Cristóvam • Your Life the Mixtape: Bonus Tracks #14

Bonus Tracks

Join your host Greg Howard Jr as he talks to Cristóvam about his new album SONGS ON A WIRE.

Cristóvam is a singer/songwriter from Portugal. Born amongst the deep blue of the Atlantic and the lush green of the beautiful Azores islands, Cristóvam’s music shines with a warmth that you won’t find anywhere else. Growing up, Cristóvam was surrounded by music everywhere he'd turn - his grandfather was a true radio pioneer who started the second oldest radio of the Atlantic and left behind a massive record collection, which Cristóvam would regularly lose himself in.

His love for organic singer/songwriters such as Ethan Johns, Bob Dylan, Ray Lamontagne and indie folk artists including Angus & Julia Stone and Bon Iver is what inspires his music today. Blending these two worlds together, Cristóvam hopes to create something that is both authentic and raw, but with a modern twist.

Brimming with euphony, he is soaring back into the scene with his new album Songs on a Wire, a twelve-track offering showcasing the very best of Cristóvam’s creativity. In a realm of reflection, his new record highlights key moments from the last two years of his life. He confides, “These were times where I dealt with a lot of different things, from the loneliness of the pandemic which was a bit intensified by the fact that I live in a small and remote island, to other happy things like getting married, getting signed or having my music going viral and reaching so many people and, on to of all that, this sort of big feeling that I was actually starting my life.”

Focus track “Ferris Wheel” is a tune that will put a spring in anyone's step, Cristóvam consolidates his status as an exceptional talent. He shares, "When you write songs, if you’re lucky, once in a while you write something that you are confident you’ll want to play forever. I think Ferris Wheel is one of those songs for me. I had a first sketch of the song and I showed it to Tim Hart, who ended up co-writing the rest of the lyrics with me." His echoic vocal energy flourishes alongside charismatic choruses and flowing melodies to create a tune that escalates with hope. Cristóvam continues, "I feel like the subject of these lyrics is a fragile one. This is a song that speaks about loving someone with bipolar disorder, about the almost transparent and thin line that determines how far you can go in trying to help someone without ending up with a burden that wasn’t your own. We’ve all seen emotionally balanced people fall into the abyss of depression, because they tried too hard to save someone who in the end, didn’t want to be saved. This is a song about sometimes having to choose your own mental health and letting go of battles that aren’t your own."

Cristóvam continues to build momentum across his repertoire and has seen great success, having won first prize in the “Unsigned Only” category for the International Songwriting Competition 2018. The judging panel featured the likes of Tom Waits, Keane, Bastille and Lorde, among many others. Cristóvam has also won two International Portuguese Music Awards (Pop Performance and Song of the Year). With these impressive accolades under his belt and streaming numbers hitting the millions, there’s no doubt Cristóvam is going to continue to triumph in the coming year!

Cristóvam's Website
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Bandcamp

SUPPORT THIS SHOW