Barbara Casini

Barbara Casini came up in Lisbon during the 1980s. Her debut album 'Entre Nós' came out in 1984 and included 'As Cartas,' a ballad that got some radio play and became her best-known song. The track has a quiet, haunted quality that stuck with people.

Her music draws from Portuguese fado and Brazilian bossa nova, but she keeps it simple and direct. Other songs like 'Azedo e Mascavo' and 'Bem Bom' have a similar unadorned feel, just voice and acoustic guitar, maybe a light rhythm section. There's no big production or dramatic arrangement, which gives her recordings an intimate, almost private quality.

In later years she's been involved with social causes, speaking up about gender equality and refugee issues. That's drawn some attention, though it hasn't really changed the sound of her music. She still works in that same spare, lyrical mode she established early on.