Dom La Nena

Brazilian born cellist and vocalist Dom La Nena released her debut album, Ela (Six Degrees Records), on January 15, 2013. Ela is a stunningly intricate and understated collection of thirteen original compositions, sung in Portuguese and Spanish. Dom’s delicate vocals and multi-tracked cello on the album are supported by spare, minimal arrangements by co-producer and label mate Piers Faccini, with textures that fall somewhere between classic Everything But The Girl and The XX.

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Dom La Nena, born Dominique Pinto, moved to France at age eight while her father pursued his doctorate. Five years later, upon moving back to Brazil, Dom began to write letters to acclaimed American cellist Christine Walevska. At age thirteen, Dom moved to Argentina with her parents’ consent and studied with Walevska for several years before returning to Paris at eighteen. In 2009, Dom was performing as a cellist with English actress and singer Jane Birkin. Upon returning from an international tour with Birkin, she set about writing and recording her first album. The writing process initially proved quite challenging, but after a period of reflection, she focused on the work at hand and the songs began to flow. Dom has also accompanied French stars Jeanne Moreau, Camille and Etienne Daho.

Dom, who draws influence from contemporary artists such as Cat Power, Lhasa de Sela and Juana Molina, first met Faccini through her husband Jeremiah, a director who made numerous videos for Faccini and artist and French singer Camille. For Dom, meeting Piers Faccini was the catalyst for the creation of Ela. A longtime fan of Faccini’s music, Dom found him the perfect partner to produce, arrange and record Ela. After she met Faccini and expressed her frustration with trying to record her solo material, he suggested that she use his home studio in the Cevennes Mountains of France and show her the basics of recording. Inspired by the relaxed vibe, she recorded almost all of her parts in one week. After hearing the results, Faccini wanted in, and set to work on the songs while Dom returned to Brazil. “First he sent me what he’d done with my song ‘No Meu Pais’ and I was overwhelmed with joy and so impressed with the way he’d really understood my music…straight off, there was quickly a really strong sense of complicity: we made music in the same way, and didn’t even have to explain things to each other.”