Carla Hassett takes the listener on an introspective journey on her third a… Read Full Bio ↴Carla Hassett takes the listener on an introspective journey on her third album, CIRCULO, revealing expressions of sorrow, joy, grief and redemption and one that allows you to travel through time into a world of upbeat adventures. From Brazil to Chicago to Los Angeles, and back again; the sultry Brazilian-born singer and composer returns to her roots and back to the sounds that made her fall in love with the music that captured her spirit forever. Sexy samba blends with the slow grooves of American soul in twelve tantalizing tracks, sung in both English and Portuguese. Carla’s journey to introduce her audience to the passion she found in music helped her to draw inspiration from a deeper, more emotinal place.

Maturing as an artist communing between continents and cultures, Carla struggled to find her own voice, which often felt pulled in opposing directions. Eventually she found a way to pay homage to and integrate the creative landscape of Brazil with the soulful sounds she heard on Chicago’s unsegregated pop radio stations. Her voice became a place where all her divergent influences coexist harmoniously in one place.

“I wanted to take my audience back to the music that defined me as an artist,” says Carla. “Growing up in Chicago in a very Brazilian home where we spoke only Portuguese, I fell in love with the samba, bossa nova, and MPB that my parents played, as well as the soul and pop music on the radio; music like Bill Withers, Al Green, Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac.”

The melodies on CIRCULO take a cue from the popular music she listened to as a girl. Carla remembered hearing songs that spoke to her of love and loss, while always holding onto a sliver of hope. It was a universal theme which resonated in the passionate music and culture of Brazil. A regular visitor to São Paulo, Carla moved back to the place of her birth for almost a year while working on the album. She immersed herself in the electrifying energy and culture of the city and its contemporary, sizzling community of artists.

“Talking of coming full circle,” shares Carla. “When I was in São Paulo, I was living in an apartment that was in an area near to where I was born, and unbeknownst to me until later, just around the corner from where my parents met while they were in college.”

Unlike her previous album, “Quero Saber,” which featured an eclectic mix of acclaimed collaborators (including Mike Patton), Carla made CIRCULO a personal journey and claimed the music as her own. Spearheaded and produced by Léo Costa, the album makes use of Los Angeles’ impressive community of working Brazilian musicians, bringing an audible authenticity to the project. Guest producer James Gadson, the legendary drummer and vocalist (who worked with a slew of artists including Bill Withers, Martha Reeves, Randy Crawford, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, BB King, and Rose Royce), recorded Carla’s vocals on the board that he purchased from Berry Gordy; Motown’s west coast board, which was used to record the iconic artists who helped to shape the distinctive Motown sound.

“I want people to experience the joy of music, to see where that passion comes from,” says Carla. “I didn’t want to rely on anyone else to make that journey happen. This was my full-circle story, although James Gadson did make a special appearance on my cover of Bill Withers’ ‘Another Day to Run.’ Hopefully, CIRCULO warmly beckons you to listen to the album when you feel sad, so that it might fill your heart with a touch of Brazilian alegria, esperança e amor.”

Having had her voice likened to Bebel Gilberto and Flora Purim, there is just no denying that Carla’s music has been defined by her own experiences. With a versatile and skilled voice, Carla has toured and recorded with popular acts such as Billy Idol, REO Speedwagon, Gino Vannelli, Solomon Burke, Jon Anderson (Yes), Christopher Cross, Sergio Mendes, Mimi Betinis, Mike Patton, and many other American and Latin artists. She sang on feature films Ask the Dust and Rio (including the Oscar nominated track "Real In Rio") and as a backup singer in the 2012 Latin Grammy Person of the Year show honoring Caetano Veloso and featuring, among others, Seu Jorge, Natalie Cole, Nelly Furtado, Juanes, Alejandro Sanz, Juan Luis Guerra, and Lila Downs.

Carla regularly traverses North and South America and continues to perform in venues big and small. She teaches music at Flea’s Silverlake Conservatory of Music and continues to work as a performing and studio vocalist.

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Julia
Carla Hassett Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Pra que serve esta boca
Se nunca ouvi a minha voz julia

Julia, Julia mãe do mar
Toca assim eu canto o meu amor
Julia

Her hair of floating sky is shimmering

Glimmering in the sun

Julia, Julia morning moon
Touch me so I sing a song of love
Julia

When I cannot sing my heart
I can only speak my mind, Julia

Julia, Julia suspirar
Chama assim eu canto o meu amor

Julia la laya la laya
Toca assim eu canto meu amor, Julia

Overall Meaning

In Carla Hassett's song "Julia," the lyrics capture the singer's deep longing to connect with someone they love, who is named Julia. The first two lines of the first stanza create a rhetorical question for the listener. The singer asks what is the purpose of having a mouth if it has never spoken their voice to Julia. This leads us to infer that the singer may have kept their feelings and thoughts to themselves, rather than communicating them to Julia. The repetition of Julia's name in the chorus suggests an attempt to anchor the singer's memories and emotions to a specific person, as if Julia is a source of inspiration that brings out an overwhelming flood of emotions. The singer uses the metaphor of "Julia, Julia, the mother of the sea" as a way to convey that their affection for Julia is deep, encompassing, and omnipresent, like the ocean.

In the second stanza, the singer describes Julia's hair as being like a "floating sky," suggesting that Julia's beauty is transcendental. The line "When I cannot sing my heart, I can only speak my mind, Julia" highlights the difficulty the singer faces when trying to express their emotions to Julia. The song's title being "Julia" could be seen as the singer's way of communicating their love and devotion for Julia. The song's lyrical content is reminiscent of a love letter written to someone who you hope would understand the true depth of your emotions.

Line by Line Meaning

Pra que serve esta boca
Why do I have a mouth / If Julia has never heard my voice

Se nunca ouvi a minha voz Julia
If Julia has never heard my voice

Julia, Julia mãe do mar
Julia, Julia mother of the sea

Toca assim eu canto o meu amor
Play like that and I'll sing my love

Julia
Julia

Her hair of floating sky is shimmering
Her hair is like the floating sky, shining in the sunlight

Glimmering in the sun
Shining in the sun

Julia, Julia morning moon
Julia, Julia morning moon

Touch me so I sing a song of love
Touch me and I'll sing a love song

When I cannot sing my heart
When I can't express my heart through singing

I can only speak my mind, Julia
I can only speak my mind, Julia