The singer and composer from Pernambuco transformed the Frevália project — which he has been playing since 2016 — into an album with reinterpretations and new songs of the rhythm
Frevo is pop! At least if it depends on Romero Ferro. The singer and composer, born in Garanhuns–PE, released the album at the end of May Frevália (2024). The album, which celebrates the Pernambuco musical genre, is an extension of a project that the musical artist has been developing since 2016.
In conversation with the Rolling Stone BrazilRomero confesses that doing work like this is an outlier for the music market in general, “but I’m from the land of frevo, I’m from Pernambuco. I grew up listening to this and this was a desire I had for a long time, ” he confesses.
One of the artist’s main objectives is to stop people thinking that frevo is a rhythm restricted to the carnival period. That’s why, eight years ago, the singer started doing the Frevália on the street, bringing the genre to a “fresher” look, combining it with other rhythms — like what we can see on the album.
Romero divided the album release into two parts, the first at the beginning of February and the second at the end of May. The strategy behind this is precisely to make frevo perpetuate beyond carnival. “Today I listen to the album the way it is, and I realize that it makes a lot of sense.”
There is no reason for us to put the frevo in this box, but it is a structural, musical and social issue. There is talk about playing all year round, but we don’t listen all year long.
The artist wants to add his voice to the movement, already defended by institutions such as the Paço do Frevo Museum in Recife, as well remembered by Romero. “They also hit that button,” he reports. He also remembers that there are artists composing and taking the rhythm forward, which is why he also brought the rhythm into his universe, with a project signed by him.
The question that goes through my head is: I’ve been doing Galo da dawn there in Recife for about four years. It’s a block for three, four million people that plays 90% frevo. I look at that and think ‘how can anyone not find this rhythm pop?’
Romero classifies the work as political and, therefore, chose to open the album with a track called “Don’t Let Frevo Die (Frevália).” He says the song is a call for people to pay attention to the importance of the musical genre. “But I know it’s a process.”
Frevália began to be effectively produced in October last year. Initially the release would be an EP with three tracks, “but I felt that the process was going really well, everything was going very well.” Proof of this is that no idea was discarded throughout production. Everything that was thought is on the record.
“When I felt this energetic fluidity, I thought ‘it’s time to bet on this and make a whole album’.” The singer’s vast repertoire of frevo songs helped. But selecting just 10 tracks from classics of the genre and songs by new composers was not an easy task. “I hope we have volume two, volume three and I can put more stuff in it — and compose it too.”
Six of the songs are new. Of these, three were made exclusively for the album. The first, which has Bixarte It is 100% Woman Orchestra he was “Passion Block,” in Romero It is Joyce Alane“Everything about you is so good,” written by Iron in partnership with Duda Brack It is Juliano Holanda and recorded with Maestro Spok. And the song that opens the album, made with Lucas Maia — producer of nine tracks on the album.
“Having let this project mature a lot in my head, I was already very focused on the experiments we wanted to do. So it was a very fluid process,” he summarizes Romero.
Special guests
The appearances on the album are one of the most impressive aspects of the project. Romero brought together names like Fafá de Belém, Gaby Amarantos, Rodrigo Alarcon, Bixarte, 100% Woman Orchestra, Leah of Itamaracá, Maestro Spok, Daniela Mercury, Mart’nália It is Clarice Falcao.
He says he started inviting people, “I even invited a little more than I should have,” he reveals. Some of the invitations were rescheduled for the next editions of the project. But in this case, whoever responded first entered.
The first person to respond was Daniela. I sent her the song on a Monday, on Thursday she said: ‘Okay, let’s do it. Next week, maybe?’ It was the first track to be ready.
Romero It is Clarice they had already sung a version of “Ironic” – song originally released on the album My problem (2016), by the artist. “I wanted us to repeat this dose, because it’s a song of hers that makes perfect sense in this frevo context.” The trumpet arrangement was done by Maestro Forró.
“So much Claricehow much Gaby It is Fafaare artists who have a direct connection with frevo. Clarice is from Pernambuco. Daniela also, he has already launched several frevos,” he explains. He also wanted to bring new names to this mix, such as Alarcon It is Bixarte. “I’m a fan of both of them and they agreed at once, it was beautiful.”
A tribute to the King of Brega
The track that ends the album, “In Full Honeymoon,” is one of the classics of Reginald Rossi which talks about a woman who cheats on her husband. In the version of Freváliathe song features powerful vocals from Gaby Amarantos telling the other side of the story.
Romero says that he has wanted to record the track for some time and that, originally, the single would be detached from the project. “But when we produced it, I immediately thought it had to be Gaby to record this song,” he recalls.
The track was produced by Kai Baka, Dedé Santa Klaus It is Cidofrom the trio MGDZ. “She agreed, and I thought we should refresh the lyrics, because they were composed a long time ago and released within a different context,” explains Romero, who wanted to pay homage to Reginaldo and show a more current look at the song.
He is Gaby composed the second part. The entire reinterpretation was discussed with the musician’s family, whoever created the bridge was Roberto Rossi, his son. The track competed for best popular song at the Brazilian Music Award 2024.
Romero He is also concerned with ensuring that the project, in addition to taking frevo forward, makes other people – especially younger generations – aware of the great classics of the genre. “It’s the main point of everything. Bringing frevo to more people.”
He says he found himself challenged to do something that mixed sounds so that more and more people could hear it. “When I called Fafasaid that we would mix frevo with tecnomelody: ‘let’s do techno frevo.'” He says that the artist embraced the idea and this is a way of making the rhythm echo further.
“This project comes to poke,” confesses the artist who not only raises a flag, but questions the absence of a fundamentally Brazilian rhythm in playlists on streaming platforms and outside of what is considered pop.
Romero joins a movement to recover previously ignored rhythms – as we have seen with brega and forró, for example – with a new guise and interesting reinterpretations, without losing the DNA of the rhythm. The singer still intends to take the idea further with a festival that should take place in different parts of the country and emphasizes that he wants other artists to also sing frevo: “I’ll be very happy!” So do we.
Romero Ferro – Upcoming shows
06/23 – Arcoverde/PE (São João)
06/29 – Brasília/DF (FestDrag)
11/07 – Rio de Janeiro/RJ (Teatro Rival)
07/14 – Caruaru/PE (Caruaru Shopping – Pocket)
07/19 – São Paulo/SP (Sesc Pinheiros)
07/21 – Garanhuns/PE (FIG)
Source: Rollingstone
Earl Johnson is a music writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the industry. A graduate of USC with a degree in Music, he brings years of experience and passion to his writing. He covers the latest releases and trends, always on the lookout for the next big thing in music.
