Xênia França is one of Brazil’s most promising singers and composers, and to get there, she’s drawn on the energy of her ancestors. While her music identifies most closely with the sounds of Brazil’s Candomblé, she understands the linkages between Bahian and Cuban rhythms as part of one larger African diaspora. On tracks like 2017’s “Pra Que me Chamas,” França takes influence from Santería’s sacred batá, infusing it with Candomblé’s rum, rumpi, and lé atabaque drums all to punctuate her electronic aesthetic.


















