“Vaga” came out of a London heatwave: a baião rhythm from Northeast Brazil, a maracatu-inspired groove, and a lift that recalls Sérgio Mendes. Lead vocalist Claudia Marques sings over a core of drums and keys, framing love as a boundless, constant current meant for everyone, with a roots-style female chorus behind her and flute lines over the top. Flautist Rachel Hayter weaves melodic lines alongside a backing chorus featuring Inês Loubet and Ana De Llor. Guitarist Jackson Caines, bassist Giovanni Cresseri, and drummer Jonny Venvell guide the arrangement into an energetic breakdown before tipping into a final key change.

It is the first single from Novos Londrinos, a five-piece based in North London whose name nods to Novos Baianos, the Brazilian group from the 1970s, and reads as “new Londoners”. The players met in 2021 in a samba bateria, Rhythms of the City, then kept going through house jams, pulled together by 60s and 70s Brazilian music: the songwriting of Marcos Valle, the voice of Elis Regina.

Their self-titled debut EP, recorded at Giant Wafer and Abbey Road Studios, reaches past bossa nova and samba into baião, spiritual jazz and Cape Verdean rhythms. Across it, Claudia Marques writes between lightness and introspection, turning over new arrivals, the passing of time, and the beautiful and unfamiliar.

They played Glastonbury in 2025 and shared a Porto stage with Ivan Lins‘s bassist. On 22 November, they take a London Jazz Festival slot at Milton Court.

Stream “Vaga” and get your copy of their debut EP HERE