Biography
Charlotte Dos Santos displays an instinctive gift for merging progressive R&B, soul, funk, bossa nova, samba, and folk traditions. She sets herself apart further through her distinctive storytelling, candid love songs, and tributes to her heritage, all of which form only part of her broader songwriting range. The Brazilian-Norwegian arranger and producer first attracted notice with her 2017 debut album Cleo, which earned a Spellemannprisen nomination for Newcomer of the Year, Norway’s counterpart to the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Following the EP Harvest Time in 2020, she delivered the full-length Morfo in 2022.
Dos Santos’ natural fusion of styles stems from her mixed upbringing. Raised in suburban Oslo by a Norwegian mother and a Brazilian father, she absorbed a wide array of musical influences from childhood onward. In the early 2010s she began posting tracks on SoundCloud, launching her understated career with a reinterpretation of a Shuggie Otis recording. She moved to Boston in 2013 to enroll at Berklee College of Music, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in contemporary writing and production as well as vocal jazz performance. Shortly after graduation she finalized her debut album Cleo, issuing it in October 2017 via the Fresh Selects label. The project contained tracks recorded across several years, among them several pieces developed with producer Fredfades, another member of Oslo’s Mutual Intentions collective.
Dos Santos’ first release for Because Music, the EP Harvest Time, appeared in March 2020, though its supporting tour was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She spent the rest of 2020 and much of 2021 shaping her second album, returning in July 2021 with “Away from You,” the initial single previewing the follow-up to Cleo. Additional tracks surfaced over the following months, paving the way for Morfo’s arrival in October 2022. Named after a blue butterfly indigenous to the Amazon rainforest, the album includes contributions from Josh Crocker and Tom Henry—both of Gotts Street Park, previously linked to Kali Uchis and Celeste—and from Paul White, a producer recognized for his solo work and collaborations with Danny Brown and Homeboy Sandman.
Dos Santos’ natural fusion of styles stems from her mixed upbringing. Raised in suburban Oslo by a Norwegian mother and a Brazilian father, she absorbed a wide array of musical influences from childhood onward. In the early 2010s she began posting tracks on SoundCloud, launching her understated career with a reinterpretation of a Shuggie Otis recording. She moved to Boston in 2013 to enroll at Berklee College of Music, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in contemporary writing and production as well as vocal jazz performance. Shortly after graduation she finalized her debut album Cleo, issuing it in October 2017 via the Fresh Selects label. The project contained tracks recorded across several years, among them several pieces developed with producer Fredfades, another member of Oslo’s Mutual Intentions collective.
Dos Santos’ first release for Because Music, the EP Harvest Time, appeared in March 2020, though its supporting tour was cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She spent the rest of 2020 and much of 2021 shaping her second album, returning in July 2021 with “Away from You,” the initial single previewing the follow-up to Cleo. Additional tracks surfaced over the following months, paving the way for Morfo’s arrival in October 2022. Named after a blue butterfly indigenous to the Amazon rainforest, the album includes contributions from Josh Crocker and Tom Henry—both of Gotts Street Park, previously linked to Kali Uchis and Celeste—and from Paul White, a producer recognized for his solo work and collaborations with Danny Brown and Homeboy Sandman.
Albums
Singles
