"Luz Foi", he explained, is an expression that Angolans use "when there is a cut in the supply of electricity", as happened when the singer was talking to Lusa on the phone, from Luanda.
"It's something that happens a lot. Today less, but it still happens. People are doing some activity, they are watching television, watching football, watching the soap opera and the light goes on. So 'Luz Foi' is a song that talk about it, tell a little story that something was happening, in this case I was reading Pepetela's 'Geração da Utopia', and the light went on ", he said.
The expression that gives the song its title "is something very symbolic for Angolans, because this issue of light and water is a constant complaint."
"There are many places that do not even have electricity supply, but speaking of the city of Luanda [where the singer lives], where there is electricity supply, the light going out or the lack of light, and water too, is one of the constant complaints from citizens here. And it turns out that this is the whole idea of the song, of the basic things that we still lack 45 years after independence ", he said.
The theme was written by Aline Frazão shortly after returning to Angola at the end of 2016, after ten years living in Portugal and Spain.
"In 2017 this was the first song I wrote after I edited 'Insular', and I felt that it didn't fit on the album 'Dentro da Chuva' [released in 2018], which is an acoustic voice and guitar album, an intimate album This song had to be with a band ", he said.
"Luz Foi" already has "the sound of this band", with whom the singer will record the new album and with whom she did "the last pre-covid concerts". The released theme is "an intermediate step between one project and another" and, therefore, "will not enter the next album", which will start recording in early 2021.
Taking into account the subject of "Luz Foi", Aline Frazão understood that November 11th "was the ideal time to finally release this song".
According to the singer, the failure in the supply of electricity, of which the song speaks, "for a long time had to do with practical issues, of the country's electricity production capacity", later, "during the war, there were problems related to the civil war ". "But then, a country that is the second largest oil producer on the [African] continent ... turns out to be a little ironic," he said.
Today, "most of the condominiums, if not all the new condominiums in the city, which are more on the periphery, are already built taking into account generators," an alternative energy source. "" The very structure that was being built in the country during the years, say, of more money, was basically limited to economic growth, not development ", he defended.
For Aline Frazão, the failure in the supply of electricity and water today, the day that marks the 45th anniversary of Angola's independence, is explained "as it is probably explained all the other social problems that exist in Angola: bad governance , not prioritizing the most basic things, which should be the first to be resolved ".
Recognizing that the recent political change in the country "was important", Aline Frazão shows some dismay. "Are things being resolved? I don't think so. There is a political change, which was important, but which until recently has not been very encouraging. There is still very little flexibility for the contest, especially when it goes to the streets. There is always a strategy of intimidation, spreading rumors and 'fake news' saying that there will be great political instability in Angola, scaring the elites. The specter of civil war, political instability, UNITA's false accusations. very repetitive, it’s always the same film and that’s very sad, ”he said.
Aline Frazão considers that recent events, with the repression of demonstrations - "a right that is enshrined in the Constitution of Angola and systematically seems to be something that bothers the Government a lot" - are "a sad background for this celebration of 45 years as independent country ".
"Obviously there have been many things that have changed and the departure of President José Eduardo dos Santos was a brutal change for the country, you can't take any weight from that," said the singer, noting that "there is still a lot of work to do and a lot to do. to accomplish".
