Escândalo Íntimo

Escândalo Íntimo (Intimate Scandal) is the third studio album by Brazilian singer Luísa Sonza. The album was released on 29 August 2023, through the record label Sony Music. The project was recorded in studios located in Brazil and the United States. The album features guest appearances by Marina Sena, Baco Exu do Blues, Duda Beat, Maiara & Maraisa, KayBlack and Demi Lovato.

Upon release, Escândalo Íntimo received generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised Sonza's maturity as an artist and the album's concept, depth and production, and gained 15.6 million streams in its first 24 hours of availability on Spotify, breaking the record for the biggest debut for an album in the history of Spotify Brazil, surpassing Super, by Jão. All of the album's tracks were positioned among the 50 most listened to songs on the platform, including six of them, "Penhasco2", "Campo de Morango", "A Dona Aranha", "Surreal", "Chico" and "Carnificina", present in the Top 10. Sonza was the most played artist in Brazil and 18th in the world. On Spotify, it was the biggest debut of a Brazilian album in Portugal, the Latin album with the third best debut, the first Brazilian album to reach more than 10 million streams in multiple days and the album to reach the highest number of streams in a week. It reached number one on Apple Music in Brazil, Portugal and Cape Verde.

A week after its release, "Chico" reached the top of all audio platforms in Brazil – being the first bossa nova to achieve this feat – and led Sonza to reach its highest entry in Spotify's Global Top 50, after the song reached 27th position. It was the fastest Brazilian album to reach 100 million streams and the album with the highest number of streams per day.

Background
In December 2022, with the release of the single "Mamacita (Hasta La Vista)", a collaboration with rapper Xamã, Sonza revealed she was getting prepared for the release of the album.

"'Next year (2023) I want to make a great album. I am a singer, but I feel much more like a performer of my own life and the album always allows me to tell a little more and in more depth all my feelings, experiences and stories'."

In April 2023, she announced the end of the "O Conto dos Dois Mundos" tour and that she would focus more on the production of her new project, stating that a part would be recorded in the United States. In March, photos in Los Angeles were posted on her social media accounts, where she met several North American musicians, such as Timbaland, Tommy Brown and Njomza.

In July, Sonza participated in a chat with her fans on Twitter, where she revealed that there were twenty-eight songs ready, but that not all of them would make the final version of the album. She also mentioned that it would have more sensual and explicit music, as well as songs in other languages, and that part of the musical production would be done by Brown. Douglas Moda, one of the producers of her previous album, Doce 22, was also confirmed to be one of the producers of the new album. According to Sonza, the project translates to a "crazy trip inside my head".

Release and promotion
On 9 August 2023, a live broadcast was made by Sonza on Rodovia Régis Bittencourt, where there was a billboard revealing the title, release date and cover of the album. Hours later, she made a post on her social media accounts talking about Escândalo Íntimo.

"'[...] This album is about love stories that went wrong, above all, me with myself. Nightmares. A self-analysis of an abusive relationship, rather with me than with others, which I only discovered in the middle of the whole process. How stupid of me to think that anyone other than me was to blame for everything I did to myself'."

Two days after the event, Sonza posted a video on the Instagram account @farm003 created by herself to promote the album, which shows her with a bleeding wound on her head, watery eyes and staring at the camera with a mysterious track playing.. The next day, the lead single, "Campo de Morango", was announced, with pictures showing the singer all stained in red on top of a bed, full of strawberries, in the middle of an open field, which is where the music video was shot. The single was released on 15 August along with its accompanying music video.

Critical reception
Dora Guerra from the newspaper Estadão stated that Escândalo Íntimo "is a business card album, which exposes the artist's versatility when moving from rock to funk, from slowness to speed. It shows that Luísa is capable of making a good conceptual pop album. [...] Without her having to, all the time, 'prove that she is an artist'". Laura Bragança and Marcos Vinícius from the Escutai website stated that the paths taken by the artist were interesting, but that in many moments, it lacked originality: "due to an erroneous popular value judgment of what “real music” would be, the singer seems to try to fit in poetic and metaphorical language, typical of MPB". Luiza Missi from the Splash website ends her review by stating that "the work is yet another opportunity to analyze the life of the singer, who this time put herself under the microscope of public opinion on purpose". The critic Felipe Maia of the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reviews that Sonza "gets it right when he gets it wrong" and that "songs orbit between melancholy and hope".

Commercial performance
Escândalo Íntimo broke Jão's record with his album Super, and it was became the most streamed album on the first day in Spotify Brazil.

Track listing
Notes
 * "Intro: Escândalo Íntimo" contains a sample of "Quarto de Hotel" by Haréton Salvanini (1974).
 * "Luísa Manequim" contains a sample of "Luiza Manequim" by Abílio Manoel (1972).