Bala Desejo

presented by ChoiceCuts

Bala Desejo is formed by the young group that has known each other their whole lives, Dora Morelenbaum, Julia Mestre, Lucas Nunes and Zé Ibarra. Requested by major festivals in Brazil and the world, together they became exponents of the new musical generation and Latin Grammy 2022 winners, with the first album released entitled ‘Sim Sim Sim’ (listen here).

Friends since school, the four began to draw attention after some participation in the thematic lives on social networks of singer Teresa Cristina. The meetings led them to live together in Copacabana, and the coexistence led them to produce their debut album, on the Coala Records label. In 2020, each of the musicians followed a different path in their respective musical careers: Dora was part of the vocal group Zanzibar, Julia composed songs for her solo work, while Zé and Lucas were immersed in the production of the second album by the band Dônica, which they are part of. together with Tom Veloso, André Almeida and Rodrigo Parcias. Lucas also participated in the production of the album Meu Coco, by Caetano Veloso, released at the end of 2021.

The realization of Bala Desejo as a group came from the invitation by Coala Festival for the band to be part of the line-up of the 2021 edition, later postponed due to the pandemic. With the impossibility of the event, the idea of recording an album came up.

Released in two parts (sides A and B), in a reverence to the tradition of LPs, ‘Sim Sim Sim’ has artistic direction and musical production by Bala Desejo himself, co-production by Ana Frango Elétrico and supervision by Marcus Preto, producer and artistic director responsible for work with Gal Costa. The debut album won the Latin Grammy 2022, in the Best Pop Album in Portuguese category. The rise of the project did not stop there: “Passarinha”, one of the songs on the album, is currently part of the soundtrack of the soap opera Travessia, written by Glória Perez and broadcast in prime time at 9 pm on Rede Globo.

With the success of the album’s tour, the quartet that mixes a series of style references — MPB, reggae, chula, salsa, rock and frevo — in lyrics full of vivacity, was present in the main and popular festivals such as: Primavera Sound, in Spain, and Rock In Rio, in Rio de Janeiro. For this year, the band is a confirmed attraction at the Roskilde Festival, in Denmark and they promise an international tour for about a month promoting their work in Europe.