Hope Tala is making bossa nova cool again

Words Notion Staff

November 20, 2018

West London's Hope Tala comes through with an understated, bossa nova dream of a track on Moontime.

Bossa nova is jazz’s cooler, more lighthearted cousin. Born in Brazil in the sixties it’s become one of the countries biggest musical exports, breezing its way around the world with its gentle samba rhythms. Everyone from Quincy Jones to Nouvelle Vague has been inspired by the genre and its become something of a musical shorthand for the late sixties. Now it looks set for a twenty-first-century revival, boosted by the ever-growing popularity of jazz in the UK and beyond.

Paving the way is Hope Tala, a West London singer and musician who’s been drawing on bossa nova to create a series of understated yet emotional tracks. Her latest is ‘Moontime’, a song that’s as tender as it is infectiously catchy. Premiering on Notion today ‘Moontime’ starts all rising strings and South American drama but soon peels back to just Tala’s voice, a guitar loop and a samba beat that hits you straight in the hips. As the track progresses Tala’s London influence starts to take shape and hints of garage find their way into the instrumental, shimmering synths and the gentlest of two-steps mingling with the Brazilian inspired beat.

Speaking about ‘Moontime’ Hope Tala said “In retrospect, I think writing ‘Moontime’ was a way in which to navigate the complexity of having simultaneous feelings of love and anger in order to come to the realisation that feeling both at once was legitimate. While the chorus is dismissive and definitive, I think other parts of the song show signs of heartbreak and exhibit a painful nostalgia about lost love.”