The multifaceted Andre de Brito is a singer, composer, poet, producer, and multi-instrumentalist originally from Portugal. He divides his time between Lisbon, London, and Los Angeles, having released several albums under his own name or even with other musical pseudonyms covering different styles.
Andre de Brito has a profound vocal tone that emphasizes an overflowing comfort in his soothing timbres. His most recent single, “Queen of Spades,” is a prime example of how the bellowing resonance of his croons cascades upon vibrant instrumentation in order to portray an otherworldly sound.
There’s a lively energy that pours from the rhythmic essence of this record as the bright piano chords accompany the tightly knit drum hits in the unveiling of a colossal atmosphere. The composition of “Queen of Spades,” has us hooked on every word that Andre de Brito casts out to his audience, and in turn, has us sinking our teeth into lyrical motifs such as, ‘No matter what you do. No matter what you say. No one can take this love away.’ What we love the most about this track has to be the way that the tempo gets kicked up a notch when Andre de Brito performs the mesmerizing hook with the utmost passion.
Although he carries a securing sense of ease through his verses, he understands that there’s a time and place to let it all out, and that’s during the chorus of “Queen of Spades.” Accompanying this masterpiece with words that ring bells, Andre de Brito is an empowering force, full of love in his latest single.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, AndredeBrito, and congratulations on the release of “Queen of Spades.” The themes that you cover in this track are filled with so much passion. Was there a particular moment or story that inspired the lyrical content that we hear?
Thanks for the compliment on my new work! About the lyrical content of "Queen of Spades", it is not inspired by any particular moment or story of my life but most probably by my own nature since I am a very emotional person. So it is basically a reflection of my own ideas, fantasies, and thoughts. Having said that, apart from the typical writing process which involves a blank page in front of me, I do have another method that is rather awkward. I am a cinephile and I do watch a lot of movies paying attention to the sentences the actors say or any other relevant information, visually speaking that I can use in my lyrics. If something strikes a chord inside me, I will write it down. I also love film music of course.
Could you please take us into the creative process that brought this track to life? Did you find it similar or different to the process of other records released?
I record so much at my private studio that I really don't have a particular method or process to start writing songs. It is incredible what you can do nowadays with the technology available. Since I play different instruments, I have used the guitar, piano, or bass as a starting point. Other times a simple blank paper will do the job or just playing with my music software (I use Cubase mainly). What happens to me a lot, especially when I am walking, is for music to pop up inside my head with all the instruments included. And in those times you need to revert the process and get the individual parts of each instrument out of your head.
About "Queen of Spades", I started with the piano chord progression. Everything else came up quickly in terms of songwriting, lyrics included. What took me a long time was the music production and the recording process. I think if anything that was done differently was the fact that I decided to hire a couple of online session musicians to collaborate, instead of playing all the instruments myself. And to be fair, one of the lessons I learned was that some collaborations work well and others don't, even if people have the best of intentions. For instance, I tried a couple of female singers so I could make the song a little bit different but things did not really glue well. For me, the creative process is never finished. When I brought the song for the mixing session, the track didn't have any electronic beat, just live drums. Me and the sound engineer observed that the song was lacking punch and we decided to add an electronic beat on top of the drums. There is always time to change something until the song goes to the mastering phase.
Delving into the topic of love, do you find this narrative easier or more difficult to write about? What generally sparks the inspiration for getting into this state of mind?
I think love is the easiest narrative to write about since it is a universal feeling. What I think is incredibly difficult is to write about love without sounding banal or in a unique way. I am not very fond of sappy love songs with lyrics such as "you love me, I love you" or "you are so beautiful and perfect." "Queen of Spades" is a love song but shows different aspects of a relationship such as fate and nonconformity. I do usually write more sad love songs than happy ones, so "Queen of Spades" was an exception for me. About the other question, I can't really force myself to be inspired, I just create as much as I can and pick up the good pieces. Sometimes I even release music I don't like or don't find valuable but releasing albums gives me a purpose in life. I know singles are now probably more important than albums, mainly due to digital selling platforms but for me, an album has something intrinsically artistic in it. What I am doing differently for this new album is basically to release some singles separately before the final album release. I think an album should be diverse, showing the different "personalities" of the artist.
What has been the best piece of advice that you have received throughout your artistic career?
I am not really a person following advice unless they show up in an informal talk, by accident. I actually think following advice and listening to everyone's opinion can sometimes ruin your career, which seems almost like a paradox. I like to be isolated and centered in myself. I prefer to follow a more organic way, which is to talk to other musicians I respect and ask questions on common interests. For instance, I play guitar but I don't really consider myself a good guitar player. So when I talk to my friends, who play way better than me, I basically bombard them with questions about technique, what amps they use, or their favorite pedals.
Singing and songwriting are the only things that I feel like I excel at but I can't avoid having a wide range of interests in the music and audio department. There's always time to exchange ideas and these small talks are much more important to me than a single major piece of advice.
What's next for you?
What I am working on at the moment is recording new songs for my album to be released this year, creating new videos for my Youtube Channel, trying to cope with the social media posting, seeking licensing opportunities, preparing live concerts. I don't make long-term goals, I prefer the small steps approach. Feel free to follow my work on Youtube, Spotify, and Social Media.