Bruno Capinan – Five Questions With

Bruno Capinan unveils their long-awaited album, Tara Rara

Bruno Capinan, the Toronto-based, Brazil-born singer-songwriter shared their new album Tara Rara (Portuguese for ‘Rare Desire’).

Tara Rara is a full circle, spiritual collection of songs, resonant with sonic elements embedded with Bruno’s Brazilian heritage, on a quest to connect listeners to the roots of their ancestors by weaving a tale of love and pain, traveling from Africa to Brazil in its storylines.

On the album, Bruno goes back to their birthplace of Bahia to reclaim the painful past of the Atlantic Slave Trade by honouring their true selves through music. While the songs are sung in Portuguese, they are made for dancing and radiant energy – all of which embody a universal language.

In addition, Bruno shares a live rendition today for the highlight track, “Meu Preto”. The song is a sombre, yet romantic, ode about two Black lovers delivered with lingering prose. Watch Bruno’s captivating performance below.

Meu Preto follows the stunning visual for “Qualquer Lugar”, filmed in Brazil. Watch the video here.

Toronto audiences can hear Tara Rara live at Do West Fest on Friday, June 3, where Bruno will take to an open-air stage and deliver their unparalleled live performance.

Listen to Tara Rara below, and find out more about Bruno Capinan via our Five Questions With segment.

Care to introduce yourself to our readers?

Hello, Bruno Capinan here. I’m a Canadian singer-songwriter, born in Bahia, Brazil, the most Black state in Brazil, called the Africa of South America, and also where the Portuguese first set foot when they invaded the country calling it a “discovery.”

I’ve released six albums in my 13-year-long career and performed in many countries dressed in very provocative outfits. I’m a libra, non-binary, often soft-spoken and sometimes listeners say they “like the female vocals and the Spanish singing” for which I reply by telling them, “it’s Portuguese”.

Tell us a bit about your most recent release.

Tara Rara is my sixth album, eleven songs, self-written, sung in Portuguese, and an album inspired by a dream I had during the pandemic in which two enslaved Black men fell in love in a slave ship traveling all the way from Africa to Brazil.

It’s about the possibility of a love existing in one of the most horrific and degrading, as well as inhuman circumstances. It’s about creating something lovable out of something so destructive. I’m reclaiming the past of my family tree and my ancestors. Also, it’s about sex and desire.

When it comes to the global pandemic, how are you keeping yourself out in the public eye while not being able to perform?

I performed a few virtual gigs, which felt very strange. The lack of an audience was pretty depressing because I’m used to getting my motivation to sing on stage from the crowd. I also recorded and released a pandemic album, recorded at home, and kept working on “Tara Rara” at the same time. So I kept busy.

Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so if you were able to work with ONE fellow Canadian artist, alive or dead, who would you choose?

Definitely Shawn Mendes. Or, and also Daniel Levy. I’m also an actor. I used to act before music.

What’s your goal for 2022?

I want to tour as much as the world allows me to.

Connect with Bruno Capinan:
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Jenna Melanson

I’m Jenna, and I am the founder and editor of Canadian Beats. I have had a strong love for Canadian music, which started many years ago. I have a passion for promoting these talented Canadian bands and artists, and that’s how Canadian Beats came to be. I am so proud of what it has become over the last few years, with many talented music lovers and writers coming together to spread the word of Canada’s music.