ISABEL NOVELLA

Isabel Novella is a Mozambican singer-songwriter whose music draws from African oral traditions, ancestral memory, jazz and contemporary global influences. Based in Lisbon and shaped by an international career across music, theatre and performance, she uses storytelling as a bridge between generations, cultures and lived experiences. Her solo career began in 2012 with her debut album, released through Native Rhythms and Sony Music Africa. The album earned her an RFI Discoveries Award nomination. Her second album, Metamorfose, released through Universal Music South Africa, was nominated for a South African Music Award (SAMA). Her new album NKATI (The Heart Within) marks her first independently produced album and a new creative chapter, released through Danish independent label Nice One Music. Created in close collaboration with her brother, bassist, composer and producer Isildo Novela, the album grew from shared memories, family history and lived experiences. “Nkati” means “within” or “inside” in the Chope language of southern Mozambique. Across eleven songs, Isabel explores the idea of home as something we carry within us, a space shaped by memory, family, migration, healing, childhood, identity and our relationship with one another and the Earth. Blending Mozambican rhythmic traditions with Afro-soul, jazz and contemporary global influences, NKATI brings Isabel back to recording with renewed clarity: music as a space for storytelling, reflection and human connections.