"We are living through dramatic moments, it is not very easy to have faith in humanity at this moment. The pandemic was a fatality that happened to us, but we have the case of the war that broke out in Europe and all this news is a little discouraging", said the singer, in an interview with the Lusa agency.
To sample this fifth album "Uma Música Angolana", the singer chose the song "Luísa", which is now available on digital platforms, and which the author presents as "a party", as it symbolizes the return to the collective sound of the band, but also to shows with an audience, away due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Luísa, which "has the name of a song", is a song that ends up bringing, once again, the theme of women to Aline Frazão's repertoire.
"Women, in any profession, not just music, always have the feeling that they are not doing well enough. They have to be exceptional or absolutely perfect to be considered equal and to deserve an equitable payment. Luísa talks about this, not only on the part of motivation, but the importance of having women writing, singing, in all the arts", she said.
And about gender inequality, the artist regrets that it is "a very well-rooted system" and "a type of injustice that takes a long time to correct".
"Honestly, with the arrival of the new President [João Lourenço], it cannot be said that there has been a change in this aspect. Angola is not an exceptional case, where the situation of women is no different as elsewhere," she said.
And he says: "When I started this record, I talked a lot about the importance of musicality to open paths for people, to imagine the future after a pandemic that blocked us from making plans on the simplest issues and this impossibility of imagining the future is very harmful to political, social, cultural level".
"The arts, by dealing with the issue of creativity, can pave the way. At this moment, the environment became even darker, but I still think that art can bring light", she said.
Freedom is still present in her compositions, which she considers as "a right that comes as a consequence of other conquered rights, basic or social justice".
In the case of Angola, he said, "health, medication or education are basic rights that are still lacking in the country and that, with the pandemic crisis, have worsened. It is impossible to have a truly democratic country without having the most basic".
In 2012, Aline Frazão sang: "If my freedom doesn't exist, yours is just appearance [album "First world"]. Today, the music continues to "beat the same key".
"It's very old-fashioned for us to defend social justice; it seems that individual narratives have a lot more echo, a lot more glitz, a lot more glamour, but I keep saying the same things, I think the consequence comes after that and that's where I'd like to see my country walk," she said.
Aline considers that, in Angola, the situation is "increasingly fracturing" and therefore follows "with some apprehension" democracy in this African country, which "is very fragile".
"There are many people who do not believe in the electoral system, in the impartiality of elections, which is very worrying, whether it is true or not. It is worrying that there is no trust in this system and the growing climate of 'fake news', a certain manipulation public opinion. There is an absence of independent media, which social networks end up replacing in a very lame, very unprofessional way", she added.
Aline Frazão is not betting on major political changes in Angola after the elections, scheduled for August.
"Our political landscape is very poor in terms of ideas, it is very flawed. The political agents have been the same for a long time, we need new blood, new ideas, new political ideas. Our country is profoundly young, I think there should be more space for new and fresh ideas. There has to be a generational change in our politicians", she underlined.
Regarding the ruling party (MPLA), the artist considers that it has "a very large domain, difficult to reverse. It has been in power since independence, it is a very inflexible party, very little dialoguing - to try to find a euphemism here".
"Let's wait and see and that it goes like the last elections: well organized, peaceful and with a great influx of the population", she said.
And he hopes that culture, music and the arts will have the possibility to act as a "tool of cohesion, to reconnect people".
"It is necessary to look at culture as a strategic sector, not only economically, but for the well-being of people", she defended.
In Angola, she continued, "the culture sector is highly unstructured, without any support from the State, or negligible, largely based on private support that, in the last years of the economic crisis, evaporated".
"In music, there is a certain partisanship of some shows and even of artists that makes the sector itself uncohesive and unstructured. The pandemic has worsened. There are many people who think about leaving, giving up music, to survive" , continued.
And he concluded: "There is no incompatibility in considering basic sectors, such as health, education, public security and culture".
Aline Frazão's new work reflects all these questions and her "restlessness, doubts, uncertainties and fears". And, as the singer-songwriter says, she has "a party inside".
