Artists: LINA_ & Marco Mezquida
Single: Não é Fácil o Amor (Love is not Easy)
Lyrics: Luís de Andrade
Music: João Vieira (pseudonym: Janita Salomé)
Arrangements: Marco Mezquida
Track running time: 04:31
Single Release Date: 29 August 2025
Releasing ahead of album: O Fado – 26 September 2025
Label: Galileo Music
Genres: Fado
Language: Portuguese
After the homonymous EP, released in March of this year, which marked the beginning of this unique collaboration, the Portuguese multi-award-winning singer LINA_ and the spanish pianist and composer Marco Mezquida are now releasing “Não é Fácil o Amor” (Love is not Easy), a song that is part of the full-length album O Fado, a deeper journey through this emotional geography where tradition and invention are intimately embraced.
“Não é Fácil o Amor” is a heartfelt poem by Luís de Andrade with music by João Vieira (a pseudonym of Janita Salomé) that finds a deep and breathtaking emotional resonance in LINA_’s voice and Marco’s arrangements.
This song will be included on O Fado, an album that will be released on September 26 and will be presented live at the Mercat de Música Viva de Vic (September 19), Misty Fest – November 14 at Casa da Música (Porto) and November 22 at Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon) – and at the Barcelona Jazz Festival (November 21).
LINA_
LINA_, with roots in opera and a classical training, fell in love early on with fado houses — a place of belonging and risk, where her voice found freedom. She recorded for Sony under the name Carolina, and later, as LINA_, she established herself internationally with the LINA_Raül Refree project, unanimously acclaimed by national and international critics. With Fado Camões, released in 2024, she reached No. 1 on the main European world music charts and was distinguished by German critics as the author of the Best Album of the Year in the World Music category. She is, without a doubt, one of the great interpreters of our time.
But LINA_ refuses to stand still. And it is from this creative impulse, which is genuine and urgent, that this new album is born. “Marco brought a great lightness to my music”, she says. “The piano is an instrument that has always accompanied me, but in him there is something different — it’s as if it were an extension of his body. And the way he approaches it makes me float. I feel free and deeply heard.”
ABOUT MARCO MEZQUIDA
Marco Mezquida, born in Menorca in 1987, is today one of the most versatile figures in contemporary Iberian music. A graduate of ESMUC in Barcelona, he is a composer, improviser, prolific collaborator, and regular presence on the world’s most demanding stages. With over 60 albums recorded (20 as leader), an impressive capacity for improvisation, and total dedication to music, Mezquida is a pianist who breathes through his fingers. Among his many accolades are the Jury and Audience Awards at the BMW Welt Jazz Awards (Munich) and three Premis Alícia from the Catalan Academy, including the International Career Award in 2023.
“I always wanted to be a singer,” says Marco. “I sing with the piano. LINA_ has a voice that touches me deeply, a voice that comes from the ground, that carries truth. Working with her is like being on stage with an artist who is also a poetic instrument — generous, vibrant, and intense. Singing with her, even without words, is a rare privilege.”