Some claim that the golden age of MPB (Brazilian Popular Music) is already gone, and some even say that it belonged to the protest movements of the 1960s. Yet, MPB has never been limited to a single moment. It is a genre that is constantly reshaping itself and refusing to be reduced into just one identity or era.
Despite being a relatively new band, the newest sensation in the MPB industry is far from inexperienced. Foto em Grupo has just made its debut, yet each member brings a story of their own.
MEET THE MEMBERS
Ana Caetano is best known as one half of the folk-pop duo ANAVITÓRIA, alongside Vitória Falcão. At the age of 15, Ana got a guitar and began creating her own music. Raised in Araguaína, in the state of Tocantins, she was influenced by sertanejo, while also embracing MPB and folk as part of her artistic identity.
Although she and Vitória had known each other since school, the duo officially took shape in college, when they began posting casual cover videos online. One of those recordings was a cover of “Um Dia Após o Outro”, a song by the Brazilian singer and songwriter Tiago Iorc, that gained unexpected traction and marked the beginning of their professional career.
As part of ANAVITÓRIA, Ana has released five studio albums, all available on streaming platforms and YouTube: Anavitória, O Tempo É Agora, Cor, Esquinas and Claraboia, as well as N, a tribute to the Brazilian singer and songwriter Nando Reis. The duo has received multiple Latin Grammy Awards, including wins for Best Portuguese Language Song and Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album.
In addition to the awards, Ana Caetano writes most of the duo’s songs. Her career has also moved into film and television. She starred in Ana e Vitória (2018), a romantic comedy inspired by the beginning of the duo, and appeared in the documentary Anavitória: Araguaína – Las Vegas (2019), which follows their path in music.
In 2023, she was part of the Disney+ musical production Tá Tudo Certo, expanding her work into acting. That same year, the duo released Minha Música, Minha Terra: ANAVITÓRIA, a special documentary, followed by Anavitória COR (Live in São Paulo) (2024), a concert film recorded during the Cor tour.
Alongside Ana, two members of the band Lagum are now part of Foto em Grupo: Pedro Calais, and Otávio “Zani” Cardoso. In Lagum, Pedro is the lead singer, while Zani plays guitar. Their story also began online, this time in Minas Gerais. In 2014, Pedro Calais posted a video of an original song titled “California” on Facebook, though the recording is no longer available. The response was strong enough to give him an invitation to perform at a venue in Belo Horizonte. He also invited his friends Otávio “Zani” Cardoso, Glauco “Jorge” Borges, Francisco “Chicão” Jardim and Breno Braga Batista (better known as Tio Wilson), marking the beginning of what would become Lagum.
“Deixa”, featuring Ana Gabriela, became a turning point for the band. Released seven years ago, the official music video now has over 17 million views on YouTube, a number that helped bring their music to a much wider audience. Lagum has released five studio albums to date: Seja o Que Eu Quiser, Coisas da Geração, MEMÓRIAS (de onde eu nunca fui), Depois do Fim, and As Cores, As Curvas e As Dores do Mundo.
Pedro Calais was also part of the main cast of Tá Tudo Certo, the same Disney+ musical series starring Ana Caetano, which premiered in 2023. Nowadays, Lagum has more than 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
Lastly, João Ferreira joins the project, a respected songwriter from Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, and singer of the band Daparte. Daparte is a rock band known for its romantic tone, formed by Bernardo Cipriano, Daniel Crase, João Ferreira, Juliano Alvarenga and Túlio Lima.
In 2025, João Ferreira was nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the Latin Grammys, with four credited compositions alongside prominent figures in Brazilian music. Among them were “Água Viva”, by the duo ANAVITÓRIA, and “As Desvantagens de Amar Alguém que Mora Longe”, recorded by Pedro Calais with Lagum. He became the first Brazilian songwriter to receive a nomination in this category.
“WE WERE ALREADY MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER, WE JUST WEREN’T RELEASING IT AS A GROUP”
The beginning of Foto em Grupo came as a surprise when the lineup for Lollapalooza 2026 was announced: there was their name, which sparked immediate curiosity. Back in August 2025, many were asking, “Foto em Grupo? What’s that?” At the time, there were only unconfirmed rumors circulating about the project.
Gradually, the pieces began to fall into place. The initial surprise was understandable, but all things considered, a collaboration on this scale made sense. ANAVITÓRIA and Lagum had already worked together on songs created for the Disney+ musical series Tá Tudo Certo, including “Universo de Coisas que Eu Desconheço” and “CAIXA POSTAL”. João Ferreira had also collaborated with both musical projects, contributing to tracks such as ANAVITÓRIA’s “Água Viva” and Lagum’s “As Desvantagens de Amar Alguém que Mora Longe”.
In an Instagram post, the band shared that the idea was simply to write for fun. But by December 2024, those sessions had started to take on a clearer shape, evolving into recordings that still had no name. As the desire to turn the project into a proper band grew stronger, they made it official: Foto em Grupo would be the name.
In September 2025, the single “Toda Esfera” was released on all digital platforms. Three months later, the self-titled album Foto em Grupo arrived, featuring 11 tracks that blend layered instrumentation and shifting moods, with a sound distinct from anything the members had previously released in their individual careers or previous projects.
The group started its initial tour in January 2026, with their upcoming performance planned for March in Campinas. Make sure to check it out:
MPB FOR A NEW GENERATION
For those who don’t follow it closely, it can be easy to place MPB in the same box it was often put in decades ago: only protest music. That perception grew stronger with the rise of Tropicália, a movement that pursued to reshape Brazilian music while also influencing theater, cinema and the visual arts. In the 1960s, many artists wanted to renew Brazilian culture through music that spoke about the country’s political and social reality. During the Military Dictatorship, when censorship was strong, songs became a way to express ideas and criticism despite the restrictions. As Bossa Nova began to lose its strength, artists such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil and Elis Regina emerged as voices of a generation.
During that period, MPB came to represent freedom, a way of responding to the political tensions and restrictions shaping Brazil at the time, and a powerful form of artistic expression in the face of repression.
Recent data released by Spotify, according to Billboard, shows that MPB grew by 47% between 2022 and 2024, with nearly 64% of its audience made up of young listeners aged 18 to 24, a sign that the genre remains not only relevant, but increasingly resonant with younger audiences.
Today, MPB continues to evolve with a new generation of listeners. It brings together different regional influences from across Brazil and, while it was once primarily associated with protest, contemporary MPB explores a wider range of themes, love, diversity and introspection among them.
Foto em Grupo fits what the music industry calls a supergroup: a band formed by established artists who come together to create something new. A well-known example of this format in Brazil is Tribalistas, formed in 2002 by Arnaldo Antunes, Carlinhos Brown, and Marisa Monte.
The band’s self-titled album moves between pop-rock and MPB influences, with songwriting standing out as one of its strongest elements. In this project, each member brings what they do best, creating a sound that reflects their different backgrounds. On social media, some listeners have referred to them as “the Tribalistas of a new generation,” pointing to similarities in certain melodies, like the song “Eu te odeio”. Still, Foto em Grupo goes in its own direction, even incorporating elements of house music, as heard in the track “Me chama pra dançar”.
The truth is that Foto em Grupo reflects this new phase of MPB: fluid and energetic. There’s hardly any point in comparing the project to anything that came before, since it feels unexpected and singular. More than trying to redefine the genre, they show how MPB can stretch and adapt. The focus remains on strong lyrics and melody, but the sound is wider, less attached to tradition and more connected to how people listen today. In that way, Foto em Grupo doesn’t break with MPB’s history, it continues it in a different tone.
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The article below was edited by Eloá Costa.
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