Elza Soares - The Woman at the End of the World

The Guardian 100

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For the extraordinary Elza Soares, time doesn’t seem to matter. She is officially in her late 70s (though the archives suggest she could be older), and has survived a switchback career. Born in a tough Rio favela, she was hailed as one of the city’s greatest samba queens in the 1950s, then fell from fashion before returning as a Brazilian icon. And she has continually updated her music. Taking note that the experimental music scene is now based in São Paulo, she recorded this remarkable new set with a band that includes Kiko Dinucci of Metá Metá and members of Afrobeat-influenced Bixiga 70. They mix samba with distorted rock and jazz influences on songs that deal with subjects including domestic violence and the death of a crack-addicted transvestite. Soares’s husky, crooned vocals dominate throughout. Surely the Brazilian album of the year.