Photos: Lisbon nights, fado, bossa nova inspire Madonna’s album Madame X

From a neighbourhood bar on a cobbled square in Lisbon’s historic working-class Alfama district to local Fado singers and Bossa nova, Madonna's latest album Madame X is a melting pot of Latin musical influences. The superstar moved to Lisbon last year so that her son David Banda could attend the Benfica football academy, where he is enrolled. Critics have called it her most bizarre album, but also one that has her sounding more natural than she has in years.

Updated on: Jun 15, 2019 12:24 PM IST

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Two men play their guitars during a jam session at the Tejo Bar in Lisbon. “Inspiration for my new record all started here in Lisbon, at Tejo Bar,” Madonna said on Instagram, of her Madame X album, which released yesterday. (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)

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Madonna at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., May 1, 2019. She moved to Lisbon last year and the city has influenced her new album hugely. (Mario Anzuoni / REUTERS)

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Madonna moved to the Portuguese capital in 2017, so that her son David Banda could attend the Benfica football academy, where he is enrolled.This photograph shows a general night view of the Alfama neighbourhood in Lisbon. (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)

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Vania Duarte sings Fado at the Casa de Linhares Fado house in the Alfama neighbourhood in the Portuguese city. “Lisbon is a melting pot of cultures … musically, from Angola to Guinea-Bissau, to Spain, to Brazil, to France, to Cape Verde,” Madonna, who has six children, told MTV in an interview earlier. Madonna also said on Instagram that she found Duarte’s style inspiring. (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)

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A close up of Vania Duarte singing Fado at the Casa de Linhares Fado house in Alfama, Lisbon. “I had the pleasure and honour to meet musicians from all these places and be inspired by their music and let it influence me. And that’s how all these songs came to be on the Madame X album,” said Madonna. (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)

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Two tourists take a walk at the Alfama neighbourhood in Lisbon. Critics have rated Madame X as Madonna’s most bizarre album yet, but also one, that by virtue of embracing Latin pop, has made her sound more natural than she has in a while. (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)

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An Alfama resident (C) sells "Ginjinha," (cherry liqueur) to tourists. Madonna’s presence has not been without controversy, especially when the city council was accused of renting her a special15-spot car park in the packed capital, provoking anger across the political spectrum. (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)

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Portuguese singer Dino D’Santiago has guided Madonna around Alfama’s narrow streets. He also introduced the superstar to his Batucadeira orchestra of Cape Verdean singers and percussionists, some of whom will accompany Madonna on her tour that kicks off in September. (Patricia De Melo Moreira / AFP)