In Grandeza (2019), Sessa explored the pleasures of the body and the intoxication that comes with being in love, in an album that looked to Brazil’s rich musical history while delving into the visceral and sensual power of words. In Estrela Acesa (2022), the Brazilian turns his gaze to the sky, reflecting on the spiritual and emotional dimensions of love. According to him, the record seeks to remind people of the transcendent power of music: “Estrela Acesa reminds people how significantly music can impact our existence and its potential to root the divine in a world where meaningful symbolic weight is scarce.”

Born in Brazil and at ease anywhere—having spent many years in the U.S., regularly collaborating with Yonatan Gat—Sessa’s music reveals influences from the lyrical minimalism and direct poetry of artists like Bill Callahan, Nick Drake, and Leonard Cohen, as well as the rhythmic textures of Pharoah Sanders, Alice Coltrane, and Yusef Lateef. These influences shape the orchestration of Estrela Acesa, a collection of songs that balances conflicting urgencies: between the intimate and the grand, the fragile and the indestructible.