The new guard of Bossa Nova is rising, with Will Santt at the forefront of it, embodying the best of the genres soft vocals, melancholic lyrics, and strangely danceable, fingerpicked guitar.
Despite Bossa Nova being translated as ‘new beat’, there's been nothing new about Bossa Nova for almost 60 years. It has evolved and changed into other genres over time, influencing other parts of the Brazilian music cannon, but modern Bossa Nova artists still haven't quite gotten past Getz/Gilberto and its Girl from Ipanema.
But in God's year of 2025, Will Santt provides the new textbook for Bossa Nova. It's all quite familiar, with the usual soft-spoken vocals, and diminished chords from a fingerpicked guitar, but Santt's way is more influenced by modern folk and pop forms than any Bossa I've heard in recent years.
Paying homage to the greats, O Mito, Jobim, Veloso, and Gil, Santt concurrently seeks to draw out a new language for Bossa Nova, unafraid to explore other stylistic avenues. It's surprising that for such a style-melding genre, Bossa Nova has stayed so rigid for so long. Santt is here to, respectfully, blow it apart a bit.
It's Bossa Nova, don't expect to be on your feet dancing the whole night. Santt's somnambulic vocals are more likely to send you into a trance than a frenzy. Expect instead to see one of the greatest young Brasilian artists in his element.