sounds from a different Algarve

The songs of the South, sung by the women who keep spring alive. Since 1994, the Moçoilas have been bringing to light what lay hidden in the Serra do Caldeirão — the songs that lived in the hills and villages, in their tones, sounds and scents, in the voice that rings out, echoing and carrying far and wide. What began as an urgent need to rescue the songs of the Algarve, forgotten or tucked away in the folds of time, has over the years become one of the most assertive and essential voices in the traditional Portuguese songbook. Thirty years on, the Moçoilas haven’t stopped. They’ve toured festivals from north to south, made their way from winter to winter to villages in the countryside, taken to bigger stages without losing their roots, and shared the stage with some of the most distinctive names in Portuguese music — from Vitorino to Rão Kyao, from Ana Bacalhau to Galandum Galundaina. The most unlikely — and perhaps the most memorable — encounter was with Maria João at Festival F in Faro: the diva of jazz and improvisation facing the three a cappella voices from the South, in a crossover of musical latitudes that no one expected and which remains in the memory of those who were there. Today, it is Margarida Guerreiro — a living memory from the very beginning —, Inês Rosa and Teresa da Silva who carry this story forward. Moçoilas is an attitude, a soul, felt from within, manifestly affirmative, joyful and feminine. It is free-flowing singing with sweet, raw and simple harmonies. A trio that takes up old themes and enriches them with their own energy, modifying some, making others their own, and never ceasing to pave the way for new melodies, new songs. The song of the South is alive. And it lives in these three voices.