Biography
Alexia Bomtempo crafts songs as a Brazilian-American vocalist and composer. Her limpid, airy, nearly crystalline soprano anchors material that fuses Brazilian MPB, samba, bossa nova, jazz, and the style she terms “cinematic dream pop with a tropical indie rock twist.” Although born in Washington, D.C. and now based in New York, she spent the greater part of her life in Rio. Her 2008 EMI debut, Astrolábio, produced by Dadi (Eduardo Magalhães de Carvalho), offered an eclectic, breezy collection of romantic sambas, ballads, and pop songs that featured radiant English-language versions of the Police’s “Roxanne” and Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour.” In 2017 she joined her husband, guitarist and producer Jake Owen, and producer David Boyle in a Texas studio to record Chasing Storms and Stars, an album of original material that mirrored the couple’s blended Brazilian and West Texas influences. With 2020’s Suspiro, issued by Ropeadope, she revisited Bahian grooves; the track list contained a bossa-nova arrangement of Peggy Lee’s signature “I’m in Love Again.”
Born in Washington, D.C. to an American mother and Brazilian father, Bomtempo passed her childhood and teenage years in Rio de Janeiro because her father worked as a concert promoter. Instead of attending school functions, she absorbed the music of Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Maria Bethânia, among others, from a vantage point backstage—an immersion that left a deep mark. After completing secondary school she pursued vocal studies for three years at the New England Conservatory before returning to Brazil. She began performing with local ensembles on studio sessions and advertising work, even contributing a theme to the 2008 television series Savage. That same year she signed with EMI and released her first album, Astrolábio, whose sophisticated charts—co-arranged by Dandi with Cesinha, Felipe Pinaud, Jorge Helder, Jorginho Gomes, and Pierre Aderne—highlighted her interpretive range. Although the record climbed only the lower reaches of the charts, her subsequent tours throughout Brazil, Europe, Asia, and North America proved successful, and the album received airplay in Europe and Japan. Over the following five years she continued performing domestically while appearing in jazz venues across Europe and Japan; she also honed her songwriting through workshops with fellow professionals and peers.
In 2012 she issued I Just Happen to Be Here on Rio’s Biscoito Fino label, an album consisting solely of rearranged, sometimes radically altered, English-language songs written by Caetano Veloso during his London exile. Collaborators included Jesse Harris, Frejat, and Orkestra Rumpilezz. The collection resonated with indie-pop listeners worldwide and led to another tour of Japan and Europe. Seeking fresh sonic directions, Bomtempo relocated to New York City in 2013, where she immersed herself in the club circuit and connected with numerous artists and producers. After accepting a residency in Tokyo, she spent a period of focused solitude devoted to performance, exploration, and songwriting craft.
Upon returning to New York she encountered fellow newcomer Owen, who had left Nashville in search of new surroundings. The two married and began composing together. They drafted an album but postponed recording after Owen was struck by lightning while touring in Florida. During his recovery they stayed with his family and friends in Texas; although Bomtempo had already introduced him to her Brazilian touchstones, the extended visit allowed him to immerse her in the music of Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, Doug Sahm, and Guy Clark. In late 2016 the couple entered an Austin studio with producer David Boyle (Patty Griffin, Robert Plant) and an array of local players that included Dobro guitarist Jeff Plankenhorn, bassist George Reiff, saxophonist Jorge Continentino, and the Tosca String Quartet. The resulting album, Chasing Storms and Stars, appeared in 2017 and blended Americana, cinematic dream pop, indie rock, folk, and samba into an original set that attracted international attention.
After additional years of road work and New York studio sessions alongside Owen and others, as well as teaching, Bomtempo drew renewed inspiration from samba, MPB, bossa, and Tropicalia while also exploring lesser-known corners of the Great American Songbook. She and Owen co-wrote material that reflected both poles of influence as well as their shared interest in Cuban son. She incorporated jazz and American pop inflections into classic Brazilian pieces by Edú Lobo and younger composers such as Alberto Continentino and drummer Stephane San Juan. The couple assembled a compact ensemble in a New York studio; Owen and San Juan handled guitars and drums respectively, co-produced, and enlisted bassist Eduardo Bello, trumpeter Michael Leonhart, and pianist-arranger Vitor Gonçalves. On the first day of recording they spontaneously arranged and captured in one take a bossa version of Cy Coleman’s and Bill Schluger’s Peggy Lee vehicle “I Think I’m in Love Again.” They next fashioned a lithe jazz treatment of João Donato’s and João Carlos Pádua’s “Fim de Sonho,” which likewise succeeded on the initial attempt. In total the group recorded a dozen tracks that encompassed Bomtempo originals ranging from the Radiohead-tinged indie pop of “Evergreen” (co-written with Owen) to the French-language samba “Les Chansons d’Amour” (co-written with San Juan) to the Tropicalia-flavored “Serpente.” Mixed by Scotty Hard and titled Suspiro, the album was released by Ropeadope in 2020 and met with widespread critical praise.
Born in Washington, D.C. to an American mother and Brazilian father, Bomtempo passed her childhood and teenage years in Rio de Janeiro because her father worked as a concert promoter. Instead of attending school functions, she absorbed the music of Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, and Maria Bethânia, among others, from a vantage point backstage—an immersion that left a deep mark. After completing secondary school she pursued vocal studies for three years at the New England Conservatory before returning to Brazil. She began performing with local ensembles on studio sessions and advertising work, even contributing a theme to the 2008 television series Savage. That same year she signed with EMI and released her first album, Astrolábio, whose sophisticated charts—co-arranged by Dandi with Cesinha, Felipe Pinaud, Jorge Helder, Jorginho Gomes, and Pierre Aderne—highlighted her interpretive range. Although the record climbed only the lower reaches of the charts, her subsequent tours throughout Brazil, Europe, Asia, and North America proved successful, and the album received airplay in Europe and Japan. Over the following five years she continued performing domestically while appearing in jazz venues across Europe and Japan; she also honed her songwriting through workshops with fellow professionals and peers.
In 2012 she issued I Just Happen to Be Here on Rio’s Biscoito Fino label, an album consisting solely of rearranged, sometimes radically altered, English-language songs written by Caetano Veloso during his London exile. Collaborators included Jesse Harris, Frejat, and Orkestra Rumpilezz. The collection resonated with indie-pop listeners worldwide and led to another tour of Japan and Europe. Seeking fresh sonic directions, Bomtempo relocated to New York City in 2013, where she immersed herself in the club circuit and connected with numerous artists and producers. After accepting a residency in Tokyo, she spent a period of focused solitude devoted to performance, exploration, and songwriting craft.
Upon returning to New York she encountered fellow newcomer Owen, who had left Nashville in search of new surroundings. The two married and began composing together. They drafted an album but postponed recording after Owen was struck by lightning while touring in Florida. During his recovery they stayed with his family and friends in Texas; although Bomtempo had already introduced him to her Brazilian touchstones, the extended visit allowed him to immerse her in the music of Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, Doug Sahm, and Guy Clark. In late 2016 the couple entered an Austin studio with producer David Boyle (Patty Griffin, Robert Plant) and an array of local players that included Dobro guitarist Jeff Plankenhorn, bassist George Reiff, saxophonist Jorge Continentino, and the Tosca String Quartet. The resulting album, Chasing Storms and Stars, appeared in 2017 and blended Americana, cinematic dream pop, indie rock, folk, and samba into an original set that attracted international attention.
After additional years of road work and New York studio sessions alongside Owen and others, as well as teaching, Bomtempo drew renewed inspiration from samba, MPB, bossa, and Tropicalia while also exploring lesser-known corners of the Great American Songbook. She and Owen co-wrote material that reflected both poles of influence as well as their shared interest in Cuban son. She incorporated jazz and American pop inflections into classic Brazilian pieces by Edú Lobo and younger composers such as Alberto Continentino and drummer Stephane San Juan. The couple assembled a compact ensemble in a New York studio; Owen and San Juan handled guitars and drums respectively, co-produced, and enlisted bassist Eduardo Bello, trumpeter Michael Leonhart, and pianist-arranger Vitor Gonçalves. On the first day of recording they spontaneously arranged and captured in one take a bossa version of Cy Coleman’s and Bill Schluger’s Peggy Lee vehicle “I Think I’m in Love Again.” They next fashioned a lithe jazz treatment of João Donato’s and João Carlos Pádua’s “Fim de Sonho,” which likewise succeeded on the initial attempt. In total the group recorded a dozen tracks that encompassed Bomtempo originals ranging from the Radiohead-tinged indie pop of “Evergreen” (co-written with Owen) to the French-language samba “Les Chansons d’Amour” (co-written with San Juan) to the Tropicalia-flavored “Serpente.” Mixed by Scotty Hard and titled Suspiro, the album was released by Ropeadope in 2020 and met with widespread critical praise.
Albums
Singles
