Desfado

Desfado was met with generally positive reviews by music critics, who praised Moura's vocals.

"[7] Portuguese guitarists Ângelo Freire and Pedro Soares contributed with the "fado-alike" sounds, whilst American musicians composed "the most un-fado-like keyboards, saxophone, and drums", as described by Siddhartha Mitter for The Boston Globe.

"[7] For the first time Moura included English language songs into an album,[8] "A Case of You", "Thank You" and "Dream of Fire".

"[7] Jim Faber for Daily News considered the inclusion "perfectly fits both the fado's flair for agony and its rich poetry.

"[8] American musician Herbie Hancock was featured as the Fender Rhodes pianist for the song "Dream of Fire", which was credited to be written by Moura.

[9] In "Havemos de Acordar", written by Pedro da Silva Martins (guitarist of Portuguese band Deolinda), American saxophonist Tim Ries plays the soprano saxophone.

[5] Its music video, directed by Aurélio Vasques,[18] features a couple (played by Paulo Pires and Ana Rocha).

With over 300 shows,[20] Moura presented in multiple countries, including Belgium, Canada, Germany, Portugal, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

[21] Since its release, it has been certified 6× Platinum by the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa, making it the 2010s' best-selling Portuguese album in the country.

Robin Denselow wrote for The Guardian that Moura performed in the album "exquisite as ever", but he considered the decision of using additional instruments to her fado trio as a mistake.

[26] In her review for PopMatters, Deanne Sole praised Moura's voice, saying it makes the album "good, [because of her] strong unwavering contralto, excellent on the sad-hopeful tone".

[30] The New York Times reviewer, Nate Chinen, suggested Desfado to be "renovator" and wrote it presents Moura's "ambitions even if she had stuck to Portuguese".

[29] Whilst Mariano Prunes asserted to say Moura combines "tradition with modernity",[31] Clive Davis for The Times called it "outstanding",[32] and George W. Harris for Jazz Weekly said even if the listener does not understand Portuguese lyrics, they could be felt, as Moura "sings around bouyant, [sic] bouncy and festive strums and sensuous string picking.

[11] Manuel Halpern wrote for Jornal de Letras, Artes e Ideias that Desfado seems "designed for the Grammys", and that Moura "won wings and discovered a fate beyond fado".

[20] For Ípsilon, João Bonifácio said that "[a]s the title indicates, Desfado is a kind of deconstruction of fate, except that, instead of the usual in this type of adventure, does not enter into dialogue only with the roots of Portuguese music but other records such as song or ballad almost soul-American.

"[20] Pedro Mexia noted "[t]he madness and the dream born an album, which some call unorthodox, but she refuses to catalog."

"[20] Alexandra Ho wrote for Sol that Moura is "at risk" and she "echoes the past, but it is the experimentation dictates the future."

Picture of a man in his 50s. He wears glasses and a fedora hat. He holds his both hands in front of his mouth.
American record producer Larry Klein produced Desfado at Henson Recording Studios .
Black-and-white picture of a man in his early 30s. He has long hair and beard and moustahce, and wears a shirt, a tie, and trousers. He is sitting with an acoustic guitar and a microphone by his face.
Pedro da Silva Martins wrote "Havemos de Acordar" and "Desfado" for the album, the later received a Portuguese Golden Globe and a Prémio Autores in 2013. [ 12 ] [ 13 ]
Moura performing in 2013