Macanese musician Delfino Azinheira Gabriel will be releasing a new EP entitled Epifania on 20 December, featuring four songs in patuá, Ponto Final reports.
Patuá is a creole language that was once widely spoken by Macao’s Eurasian community but experts say there may be as few as 50 speakers today.
The seven-track EP also includes two instrumental songs, and has the singer – who performs simply under the name Gabriel – beatboxing and playing instruments from electric guitar to handpan.
Unwilling to be pigeonholed into one specific genre, Gabriel’s tracks mix pop, reggae, electronic and new-age music. “I try not to position myself in a specific musical style because the music I hear also covers various styles,” he told Ponto Final.
[See more: Patuá way to do it with Miguel de Senna Fernandes]
According to Delfino Azinheira Gabriel, the genesis of the project can be traced back to three years ago when he decided to promote patuá through music. Macanese scholar, Elisabela Larrea and translator Paula Carion helped him with the patuá lyrics.
“At the beginning, I wrote the song in Portuguese… then tried to translate it to patuá, and asked my friends to do the review and give me ideas,” the musician said in his interview with the Portuguese-language newspaper.
Epifania will be available for purchase digitally or at Livraria Portuguesa, Pin-to Livros & Musica and the Universal Gallery and Bookstore.
This is not Gabriel’s first outing in Patuá. Previous work recorded in the language includes songs such as “Telele” and “Normal Novo.”
