Brand new music video from Ana Amado

Originally hailing from Portugal and now based in London, singer-songwriter Ana Amado is beginning to shape a musical world that revolves around the complexities of life from her own perspective. Exploring different genres and moods, she views songwriting as a way of translating intimate emotions into sound, creating music that draws its strength from emotion and poignant reflection. Although still at the start of her journey, Ana is already developing a clear creative direction that places determination, candid songwriting and the realities of facing difficult periods at its heart.

Her original sonic vision first landed in January with the release of debut single “Dahlia,” a track which unveiled her interest in personal storytelling and marked an initial point of connection with the themes that continue to inform her work. By not treating hardship as something easily overcome, Ana is more interested in the experience itself, distilling the moments of uncertainty, the struggle to make sense of overwhelming feelings and the determination to keep moving even when hope feels difficult to hold onto.

Now, she returns with her sophomore single titled “The Intake,” taking those ideas into darker and more psychologically intense spheres. Born from a desire to capture anxiety and emotional overwhelm, the track draws on the atmospheric qualities of trip hop, with the styles of Portishead and Massive Attack echoing in its sound. Their influence can be felt in the mood Ana seeks to create, while a darker alternative pop edge gives the song its own modern aesthetic, resulting a sound built around emotional tension, allowing the music to reflect the experience at the centre of the writing.

“The Intake” arose from a particularly intense period in Ana’s personal life; over the last year, she faced a relationship that brought waves of emotion powerful enough to feel physically overwhelming. As someone who experiences feelings on a visceral level, she wanted to translate that sensation into music, with the tightening anxiety, the sense of being unable to breathe and the eventual release that comes when the pressure begins to lift rippling throughout the music itself. It’s a sonic experience that gives the single its powerful emotional impact, placing its darker atmosphere in a profoundly personal setting.

The title captures the central idea, with “The Intake” referring to the breath needed to return to yourself, to find space within an overwhelming moment and begin breathing properly again. That movement between suffocation and release becomes the emotional platform of the track, reflecting a wider interest in how people endure difficult experiences without losing the possibility of recovery. Opened by the stretch of airy synth tones and deep low end textures, Ana’s hushed voice glides above bass piano notes, forming an intimate soundscape that develops with the downtempo shuffle of trip hop drums, casting a mesmeric alternative pop scene that’s brooding, transportive and utterly alluring from start to finish.

Co-produced remotely with Spain-based producer Ribji Contreras, “The Intake” brings together his studio work and Amado’s vocals, building an arrangement around a moody atmosphere. Ana’s growing interest in the saxophone found its way into the recording, introducing another element to the sound with the instrument adding smokey melodic flickers throughout the track, expanding its fabric while supporting the mood she wanted to convey.

Amado’s creative involvement extends beyond the recording itself, with the artist also directing and producing the accompanying music video, translating the song’s emotional world into a visual form. As a naturally visual person, she considers that side of the project just as important as the music, using it to communicate further layers of meaning and expand the listener’s understanding of the song.

Despite having only two releases to her name, Ana Amado is mapping out a body of work connected by a consistent thematic thread thats explores survival, strength and the challenge of finding hope while sitting at rock bottom, without losing sight of the difficult realities involved. In that sense, “The Intake” feels like a continuation of “Dahlia,” almost a second chapter in an ongoing story and we can’t wait to see what comes next.

Watch the music video for The Intake below

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