Alegria. Or the two faces of fado, between joy and melancholy. Cristina Branco returns with a concept album, poignant, personal, like a commitment. In twelve musical portraits written and set to music by the cream of contemporary Portuguese songwriters, Alegria only puts people’s lives into perspective through poetry. They speak to us about ourselves: twelve characters with whom we can continually identify. There are borrowings ("Construction" by Chico Buarque, "Alice au pays des babyfoot" by Sérgio Godinho and "Cherokee Louise" by Joni Mitchell), and also characters invented by Cristina Branco. This is not a record about hope, but it does not reject its possibility. It is a record that seeks the truth so that it may be the beginning of a path that can lead toward a better world.