Madeiran MELA launches music video for the Song Festival theme

The Madeiran singer and songwriter MELA released the music video for ‘Água’ this Tuesday, a song she presented at Festival da Canção 2024 and which precedes her debut album, which will be released soon.

Directed by Thomas Zimmermann, the visual shows the artist in various cinematographic settings, with a special focus on Mother Nature.

As the artist explained, the concept of the music video “emphasizes what is beautiful and natural, with a strong focus on nature”, which “is elementary” in its aesthetics.

“The recording process was a lot of fun. I worked with Thomas Zimmerman, a creative and talented director and videographer who was able to understand and materialize my ideas. Furthermore, it was one of the most challenging experiences of my life as I was completely immersed in a pool with a very low water temperature”, he says.

Remember that ‘Água’, a song with lyrics and music written by the Madeiran artist and produced by Jonny Abbey, was selected from among more than 800 songs in the free submission for the Festival da Canção 2024.

• Alexandre Carvalho

• Alexandre Carvalho

“I like to believe that there are songs that have already been written and we, as songwriters, just find them at the right time. This is the case of ‘Água’, which I wrote at a time when continuing in music was an uncertain reality. The composition happened very intuitively, almost as if the song wrote itself and said everything I needed to hear at that moment. It’s a song about self-love and valuing our truest and most transparent ‘self’”, says MELA, adding that, in terms of sound, she wanted the song “to be like an experience with several layers and distinct with each new listen”.

About the artist

“MELA is the alter-ego of Mariana Fernandes Gonçalves. Singer and songwriter, Medicine and Dentist student, she was born in Funchal and lived until the age of 18 in Madeira. Music has always been part of MELA’s life. She began writing her first lyrics at the age of 10, immortalizing on paper thoughts, dreams, nostalgia and melancholy that are still the guiding thread of her poems.

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  Alexandre Carvalho

At the age of 14 he started playing guitar and at 18 he started playing piano. In 2020, he graduated in Music Production and Creation, at ETIC. She participated in several singing and acting competitions in Madeira and, in 2016, in The Voice Portugal. In 2019, she began composing her own songs and, in 2020, she began composing for other artists. According to MELA, her songs ‘are like a diary transformed into a sung story’.

After participating in the 2024 Song Festival, with the theme ‘Water’, with lyrics and music written by her, the artist is working on what will be her debut album, to be released soon.”