Braga, Rita
Illegal Planet
Rita Braga is a Porto-based, Portuguese singer and multi-instrumentalist. Rita is a prolific artist who has released a string of cult records, most recently 2020's 'Time Warp Blues.' She has performed hundreds of shows in the last fifteen years all across Europe, Brazil, Japan, US and Australia and is a lynch-pin of the ever-burgeoning music and arts scene in Portugal. For 'Illegal Planet' Rita continues to traverse realms of sci-fi pop and synth-folk dream-worlds whilst also grappling with dystopic mundanities of modern life such as smartphone apps for Rádio Pardal and YouTube, with the closing track 'Unclassified' thanking the listeners who stayed until the end and asking them not to forget to hit the subscribe button. Elsewhere 'Ikea Snow' ruminates on existential dread in the shape of global climate collapse. These very modern tales of transcendence and woe are filtered through a kosmische haze of synths, old-time drum machines and all manner of musical instruments from around the world. Rita's vocal is inspired by her love of early jazz and Hollywood actresses of yester-year and this brings a nostalgic tinge to the gorgeous suite of mini-narratives. Jazz-inflected noir-pop for the end times, indeed. As well as recording, releasing and touring her solo music she has collaborated with a host of cult musical figures including a current project with German composer and sound artist Felix Kubin. In 2022 she worked with Ana da Silva of post-punk group The Raincoats and also collaborated and toured with American post-hardcore hero Ian Svenonius of Nation Of Ulysses. Rita completed her bachelor degree in Music Sciences in Lisbon and in 2018-2019 she took the MA in Performance Making at Goldsmiths, University of London. The songs for 'Illegal Planet' were composed by Rita and produced by her and Rodrigo Cardoso at Sonoscopia studios in Porto. The album features a range of guests with enviable CVs such as Nik Phelps (Tom Waits/Frank Zappa), Phil MFU (Vanishing Twin) and leading figures of Porto's experimental music scene such as Gustavo Costa and Luís Bittencourt. 'Illegal Planet' was mastered by Tó Pinheiro da Silva.