Ana Luisa Ramos's new album includes blue skies and Brazilian vibes

Ana Luisa Ramos never expected her new album, Amanhaceu, would be finished on an island in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean. 

The singer-songwriter began recording songs for the album in her home country of Brazil, but after a big move, wound up completing the project in her new home of Newfoundland and Labrador.  

"People here in Newfoundland and Labrador, they are really curious about different cultures," said Ramos. 

"I'm really, really glad to be here because I have been feeling a lot of support here."  

From classical to bossa nova 

Ramos began singing in choirs as a child in her hometown of Ribeirao Preto, Brazil. 

When she was a teenager, she moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, to study and perform mostly classical music.

For the past decade, she has had a second career in Brazilian popular music, incorporating elements of bossa nova, pop, and rock and roll, mostly sung in Portuguese. 

In 2019, Ramos and her husband, Eric Taylor Escudero, moved to St. John's so Escudero could begin graduate studies in ethnomusicology at Memorial University. 

Ramos said she and Escudero have been warmly received in the province's music scene. Ramos has launched a solo career, a private teaching practice, and she and Escudero perform and record as the duo Ana and Eric.  

"My impression is that people [here] love Latin music and Brazilian music. Especially bossa nova," said Ramos.  

'A universal language'

The album's first single, Céu Azul, means "blue sky" in Portugese. But as for her album title, "amanhaceu, there's no direct translation," she said.

"But it [means] something like 'the dawn,' 'the dawning.'" 

Ramos brought the half-finished project to the Citadel House recording studio in Lewisporte. There, she decided to rerecord the entire album from scratch, to give it a unified sound. 

Amanhaceu includes songs written by Ramos as well as Escudero, and are sung in both Portuguese and English.  

Ramos said local audiences seem to enjoy her songs, even though they might not understand all the lyrics.  

"One thing that is magical about music is that it's a universal language," 

"Even though we have a language barrier, we can feel and we can know what the song is about." 

Do you have a new album of music that Weekend AM should know about for First Listen? Email us, wam@cbc.ca, and tell us about it. 

You can hear First Listen on Sundays on Weekend AM from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. (5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in Labrador) on CBC Radio One.  

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