FOR the past 25 years, The View from Madeleine’s Couch have grown into Australia’s leading exponents of Brazilian jazz and bossa nova.

And vocalist and percussionist Anje West lauded as the foremost interpreter of bossa nova on home soil.

 Together with Kym Ambrose, one of the top vibes players in the country, the Brisbane outfit are now a must-see act that draws legions of fans to sell-out shows.

In 2019, they released their first album in a decade – Bossa Nova Sunset Club – featuring celebrated Brazilian master drummer Marcio Bahia.

But the album hit the inevitable Covid hurdles in 2020, with Ambrose and West bereft at the sudden loss of gigs and chances to promote what became a critically-acclaimed album.

“We couldn’t do anything,” West said.

“All the gigs stopped and – like a lot of musicians – I sank into a terrible, terrible place of depression, anxiety, and stress, wondering what would happen next.

“I wondered, what would I do when I couldn’t do the thing that I love, that is my living and my vocation?

“That was one tough year.

“The first gigs after lockdowns were just the most beautiful, enriching events we had ever experienced; there was this gorgeous connection between us and the audience.”

West and Ambrose first met in Brisbane in the spring of 1994, with the latter’s huge collection of Brazilian music becoming the soundtrack to their courtship.

They fell in love and married two years later.

Together with the bass grooves of Owen Newcomb, the ornate guitar chops of Bruce Woodward, and the driving drum patterns of Lachlan Hawkins and Paul Hudson, The View from Madeleine’s Couch have picked up numerous music award nominations for their original compositions.

West said three trips to Brazil allowed them to understand the culture and essence of the music, and Brazil has now become a spiritual home for them.

It is there that Ambrose and West have studied with world-class musicians, with the Brazilians embracing them for their respectful re-interpretation and unique take on their music.

West said she had suffered feelings of being a fraud when the band first began.

“There were times early on when I felt that kind of imposter-syndrome thing,” West said.

“I was singing in Portuguese, emulating another culture.

“So, I began carrying around a tiny pocket Portuguese-English dictionary.

“A major shift came when I learned the emotional nuances of Portuguese; I’m glad I worked on the language early on so I would not repeat my earlier mistakes because English and Portuguese often don’t directly translate.”

West said their band name was purloined from an idea her musician father thought of decades ago.

“Those two words were always floating around,” West said.

“As a teen, Madeleine’s Couch just stuck with me. Kim added the other words after we met.

“I still love the name because it doesn’t box us in.

“In the early days of the band we were afraid of being a novelty act, of an agent booking us and thinking they were getting Gloria Estefan or a carnival act, or something like Carmen Miranda with fruit on her head.

“A lot of our own character and our musical personality is invested in the music.

“We are not trying to pretend to be something we’re not.

“Our sound is who we are; we are Australian musicians who love Brazilian music.

“It is very specifically centred around bossa nova as a style, with samba and other little influences, but it bears remembering that we play under the umbrella of Brazilian music.

“There are hundreds of styles and genres and rhythms and ways of hearing and listening and presenting Brazilian music.

“The kind of compositions we play come from a very specific period and a very specific place.

“We do what fits us and the influence for us, of course, has come from bossa nova and samba and Brazilian jazz.”

When The View from Madeleine’s Couch play Ipswich Civic Centre this Friday, November 11, they will take the audience back to the beginning of the band’s career.

“Our gigs can be pretty spontaneous,” West said.

“We might get a vibe from the audience and then play to that.

“Expect some classic bossa nova and some great new stuff.

“You will hear gorgeous instrumentals, ballads, and lovely, percussive up-tempo songs.

“Venues like the Civic Centre are so great to play in because I can explain the stories behind the songs.

“Our aim is to create a joyous mood in which people can close their eyes and imagine they’re somewhere else with their feet in the sand, maybe on Copacabana Beach at sunset.

“It will be like going on a little holiday for the evening.”