David Fonseca is a writer, composer, musician and performer. His first band Silence 4 imposed itself as the biggest and most astonishing phenomenon on the recent years of Portuguese music. Surfacing in the end of the '90s as one of Portugal's major rock bands, they opened new frontiers for other English singing bands to follow. Their version of Erasure's "A Little Respect" opened up the door for something even bigger with David's original songs. Overcoming the country's rock tradition built upon Portuguese-language songs, and choosing to create mostly acoustic compositions, the band quickly conquered a large following and numbers in sales never seen before. It was a shock to the country's rock fans when the band "froze" activities in 2002, but it was a chance for Fonseca to branch out on his own, work with different musicians and try new sounds.
“Sing Me Something New” (2003) was the title of David Fonseca’s debut album as a solo artist, playing nearly all instruments and exploring his composer and performer sides more than ever. Produced by David and Mário Barreiros, this record was mastered in New York, at the Sterling Sound Studios, by George Marino, the man responsible for mastering records of artists such as Coldplay, Rollins Band, Marc Ribot, Dandy Warhols or Sepultura. “Someone That Cannot Love”, the first single, was a #1 hit on airplay for several months and a radio favourite to the date. The second single, “The 80’s” was chosen by VODAFONE to be the song for their Summer advertising campaign and became an instant hit. A successful tour followed for 2 years and the album reached #2 on the Sales Chart and certified PLATINUM.
In 2004, he joined a Portuguese supergroup called Humanos, giving his voice to never before heard songs from the mythical António Variações, a loved gone composer and singer from the 80’s. This tribute album was multi-platinum and stayed in #1 for weeks.
In 2005, David released the album “Our Hearts Will Beat As One”. It's most experimental music until then, mixing genres and trying new approaches to his own compositions, was very well received by the audience and the title track went straight to #1 on MTV Hit List and remained in the chart for months. The record reached #1 on Sales Chart and it was critically acclaimed by all media which considered it to be the POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR in Portugal.
In 2007, David’s new album “Dreams In Colour”(another #1 on sales charts), confirmed his status as one of the most successful Portuguese artists to date. The first single (“Superstars”), an upbeat song with a contagious whistle, became a summer hit and set the tone for the new record, leading the radio charts for months. A strong mixture of melancholic lyrics and joyful sounds, turned David’s indie and 80’s influences into mainstream anthems. David’s own version of the Elton John 1972 classic “Rocket Man” led to the creation of a stunning one-take video directed by David (who directs most of his videos) in a groundbreaking performance that shocked and appealed everyone who saw it. On January 2008, MTV chooses David Fonseca for Artist of the Month for the second time in his career and returned to Austin, performing once again on SXSW – South by Southwest. The third single of “Dreams In Colour”, “Kiss Me, Oh Kiss Me”, reaches the top 10 radio charts one week after it’s release, another instant hit for the record pointed out by the readers of the #1 music magazine in Portugal as “Best Record of The Year”. Critics and media point “Dreams In Colour” as David’s finest moment ever on his fast growing career.
David is permanently touring and has played all the major Portuguese festivals and events. He shared the stage with international names and headlined many festivals in Portugal.
“I play a lot of different venues, from small places where I can hear the audience breathe to open air festivals with thousands of people, so these songs have to survive all the different moods that are set in each place I go. I love playing live, it’s great to see these songs transform itself according to different audiences and venues, it’s always different every time I play it.”
David Fonseca reserved for 2012 one of the greatest artistic challenges of his career – to tell a year of his life through his songs, a musical diary. The result is "Seasons", a work divided into two records: "Rising", the first volume, released on March 21st, and "Falling", the second, released on the 21st September. "Seasons - Rising: Falling" is then complete, making it the fifth album of David Fonseca’s solo career, showing us an artist in his creative peak exploring musical ideas that were already present in his later albums though never in a way so striking. If "Seasons - Rising" reinforced this idea by integrating into his eclectic musical universe a lot of electronica and rock, in "Seasons - Falling", David explores the songwriting essence, giving us songs of unusual emotionality such as "All That I Wanted" or "At Your Door"
In 2015, David released his first album in portuguese language, "Futuro Eu" ("Future Me"). The reaction was very enthusiastic – the album entered directly to 1st position of the charts and the media praised “Futuro Eu” as one of David’s best albums. David launched the record in a very unusual way, a 24h performance transmitted live as a reality-show with dozens of guests. The song "Deixa Ser", a duet with Marcia, became a fan favourite and one of his most popular songs.
In 2017 he release "Bowie 70", a David Bowie's tribute. Since Bowie was a pivotal influence on his career, Fonseca built a tribute album with his own versions of Bowie's songs (where he played every single instrument) and then invited an all-star cast of portuguese singers to complete each song. Artists like Ana Moura, Camané, António Zambujo, Rita Redshoes and others joined in and made "Bowie 70" go to the top of charts.
In 2018, David Fonseca released "Radio Gemini", a concept album built like a radio show with diverse songs and genres, all played out by David. The first single "Oh My Heart" became a huge hit, with a music video shot in Japan and climbing all the radio charts. The record was revered by the media and become an instant fan favourite. David toured this record until 2020, when it was interrupted by Covid-19.
During lockdown, he released "It Feels Like Home", a song recorded at his house with actress Ana Sofia Martins, his wife. The song went on to be another radio chart success. During 2020, he also released two albums: "Lost and Found: B-Sides and Rarities" and "Christmas Songs Vol 1".
David is preparing new music for 2021.
He’s also known for his outstanding one-man-show performances, where he plays several instruments and takes his audience through his songs in a more personal way. “Dreams in Colour” had an international release and was launched in ITALY, GREECE and SPAIN. It reached #1 in the MTV-GREECE chart, which led the music channel to invite him to play live in Athens along with bands like R.E.M and KAISER CHIEFS. He was also chosen to be the opening act for KEANE in Spain. David did over 60 sold out shows over 2008 and released a DVD with a very special performance at the Lisbon Coliseum. A mix between cinema, theater and live music, the show got amazing reviews and received an award for “Best Show of The Year”.
In 2009, David released “Between Waves”. “Stop 4 a Minute”, a raw and powerful rock song ready to set the audience on fire, gets picked for a portuguese TV commercial and is pictured on the explicit and amazing video directed, once again, by David himself. “U Know Who I Am” and "A Cry 4 Love" become instant classics on another large tour across Portugal, Spain and Brazil. He creates the community "Amazing Cats Club", allowing fans to get closer to his music and releasing several records with rarities exclusively for club members.
In the end of the year, he took an adventurous task in his hands and decided to go on tour on his own, playing all instruments on stage in a never-seen-before kind of show. He called it “One Man, a Thousand instruments and a Polaroid” and became one of the fast selling tours of all time. With every single venue – not only in Portugal but also in Spain - sold out, he took the idea of one-man show beyond any kind of label and turned it into something of his own.
