32. Cabo Verde — ‘Intelectual’ by Ildo Lobo

Ildo Lobo was so popular in Cabo Verde that when he died, all government offices in his native island of Sal closed for three days, and flags flew at half-mast. Yet, he also worked as a customs officer at the airport, a job he kept until he died at the age of 50.

This album transports me, not to Cabo Verde necessarily (a place I’ve never been to, and of which I don’t have much knowledge), but to a warm, summery night, in a small town somewhere, where there’s some sort of celebration and people of all ages are out and about; there are queues to get ice cream and everybody is wearing t-shirts and shorts. And I can see him, Ildo Lobo, on a stage, with a few musicians, singing these songs. And nobody is paying him much attention, except for a few senior couples who keep dancing to his stuff. It is the perfect soundtrack for that. I have lived some of those moments in my childhood and teenage years, and this album made me realise how much I miss those nights. That alone is worth a listen or two.