When the Belgian audience first met Nelson Moraïs they were actually paying more attention to his sister. In 2004 Elsie Moraïs competed in the final of Eurosong with the song ‘Amoré Loco’ and Nelson singing in the background. A couple of years later, when she reinvented herself as LC Moraïs, he was once again there to support her on backing vocals.
In 2008 Nelson started setting up a career of his very own. This time round it was his turn to compete for Eurovision glory. His ‘When I Can’t Find Love‘ didn’t get him a ticket to Serbia, but it did get him to the Eurosong final. The ballad became a top 10 hit and Nelson was destined to be the next big thing.
However, when follow-up singles ‘A Girl Like You‘ and ‘Pushed Me Too Far‘ failed to chart, it looked like Nelson was going to remain a one hit wonder.
But then in 2009 everything fell into place. Nelson was asked to do vocals on the Daniel Bovie & Roy Rox track ‘Love Me‘. The understated club smash has him singing that “There’s no shame in loving one another, babe”. The combination of the laidback dance beats and Nelson’s vocals catapulted the song to number four in the charts.
What was only ever meant to be a one-off track evolved into a new chapter of Nelson’s career, with rumours of an entire album being recorded in the same genre.
A year later, we’re getting the first results. Daniel Bovie has returned on production duties, with a little help from Yves Gaillard. Yves has previously done songs for Charley says POP! favourites Hadise, Katerine Avgoustakis and Kate Ryan.
While ‘She’s Gone‘ isn’t simply ‘Love Me’ part two, it clearly has that same club vibe and Nelson’s vocals are as smooth as ever.
If there is an album coming up then I for one can’t wait.
