Portuguese songwriter Nico Paulo, who has found a second home in St John’s, Newfoundland, has shared a video for “The Master”, a marvel of a song, with a chorus (and a warbly guitar answer line) that is another perfect showcase for her striking voice and immaculate delivery. The track is taken from her self-titled debut album, which is out now on Forward Music Group and reviewed here.
Nico Paulo’s voice and songs strike chords that are impossible to ignore. She goes places that have not been traversed, creating music in a genre all her own. This is merely the beginning of what will hopefully be a long amd productive journey.
Bob Fish, Folk Radio
Directed by Jamie Miller and Nico Paulo :
Evoking romantic renaissance met with the natural elements around St. John’s, Newfoundland and a favourite beach in Portugal, we gathered memories from a period of emotional intensity and recreated the sleepovers, the bonding around a fire, the laughter and tears, the hikes, the tireless chats and the time holding space for vulnerability and holding each other. This music video doesn’t just recreate human connection, sisterhood, empathy and heartbreak in an elegant way, but aspires for the observation of our surroundings and connection to space and nature. To stop and pay attention for a moment. The strength alive in the escarpment walls and the fragility of our fragmented memories of peace and ease can lead us.
‘The Master’ the song is largely about mastery over one’s own feelings. It’s an inquisitive song more than anything else as it looks to understand how people around you live and feel. In those times of upheaval where your feelings threaten to overcome you, this song looks to others and their ability to keep it together. It doesn’t tell us which way is better, it simply looks to encourage belief and change in ourselves, curiosity and intrigue in what’s to come, and the power of being honest.
Tour dates below.
Paulo’s debut album is rooted in intimate, imagistic songwriting wherein relationships (to self, to others, to the wider world) come into focus, brim with passion and occasionally slip away. The magnetic center of the music is her direct vocal work that feels both inviting for its warmth and striking in its power.
Recorded in a lakeside cabin on Nova Scotia’s South Shore with producer / percussionist Joshua Van Tassel, and co-production from Tim Baker, Paulo’s unassuming songs are brought brilliantly to life through subtle rhythmic shifts and exquisite arrangements for horns, woodwinds and mellotron. Each song is played with care by a cast of St. John’s finest players including Adam Hogan (guitar) and Tim Baker (keys), both formerly of Hey Rosetta, Mary Beth Waldram (clarinet),
TOUR DATES:
June 7-10 – St. John’s, NL: Lawnya Vawnya festival // tickets
July 9 – Canning, NS: Ross Creek Centre for the Arts
July 13 – Charlottetown, PEI: Trailside Music Hall // tickets
July 14 – Pictou, NS: Caladh Marquee // FREE
July 22 – Woodstock NB: Dooryard Arts festival // tickets
July 23 – Fredericton NB: Sweltering Songs
July 26 – Montreal, QC: Casa Del Popolo // tickets
July 28-30 – Guelph, ON: Hillside festival // tickets
July 31 – Toronto, ON: The Baby G // tickets
August 4/5 – Sackville, NB: Sappyfest // tickets
August 6 – Berwick, NS: Union St. Cafe // tickets
August 15-20 – Woody Point, NL: Writers at Woody Point // tickets