São Paulo born singer, songwriter, and producer Sessa has made a name for himself globally with his modern take on the musical traditions of his home, Brazil. Celebrated by The New Yorker as “a songwriter cut from Veloso’s mold and blessed with a flair for the intimate, the enigmatic, and the licentious,” Sessa’s songs are sung in Portuguese with visceral, sensual lyrics, and melodic flourishes to complement the work of giants like Tom Jobim or Arthur Verocai. However, Sessa’s music gets a deliberate minimalist treatment rarely found in contemporary Brazilian music, more reminiscent of the unabashed bareness of Leonard Cohen.

Sessa’s live performances are the stuff of legend in whatever form they assume, enchanting experiences where performers and audience alike are rendered powerless against the sway of the music. Sessa commands the stage even if he is left on it alone except for his nylon guitar, at other times building this intimacy with a female backing choir, intricate percussion, and more elaborate orchestration. While the songs often deal with subjects such as the sensual body and spiritual transcendence, the music points to new, more subtle directions for Brazilian pop music – a deep, minimalist, almost insinuated use of the endlessly rich textures and rhythms that define the songwriting history of Brazil, which Sessa joins amongst its most promising new voices.