Silence 4

Silence 4
Origin	Leiria, Portugal
Genres	Indie pop
Years active	1996–2001, 2013-
Labels	Universal Music
Associated acts	David Fonseca
Members	David Fonseca Sofia Lisboa Rui Costa Tozé Pedrosa

Silence 4 is a Portuguese band, formed in 1996, who mostly sung in English. They released two albums to high critical acclaim, Silence Becomes It (1998) and Only Pain Is Real (2000). The band hasn't officially disbanded, but went on an undetermined hiatus from 2001 to 2013, when their members decided to reunite for a brief tour after Sofia Lisboa underwent cancer treatment. Lead singer David Fonseca is currently undertaking a solo career.

The band's genesis took place in 1995. After good feedback from showing some demo tapes to a music shop owner in Leiria, David Fonseca approached Sofia Lisboa with the idea of forming a band. That idea only materialized one year later, when both of them invited Rui Costa to the band — who suggested they turn off the amplifiers and play acoustic, in silence.

They won a 500.000 escudos (roughly 2500 euros) prize in a band festival, which was spent totally in making demos. When presenting these to labels, the answer was always the same: "Singing in English? No way!" Refusing to balk at the demand of recording totally in Portuguese, they ended up recording a cover of Erasure's A Little Respect, which was included in the compilation Sons de Todas as Cores (released in 1998), giving it massive airplay and good critical response.

Polygram (now Universal) finally accepted to work with them, but with some restrictions: minimum budget (5 million escudos — 25 thousand euros), and they would only receive royalties after selling 10 thousand records. The resulting album was Silence Becomes It, which was certified platinum 5 times (over 200 thousand records sold), spending months on top of the Portuguese charts. A national tour ensued, with 90 concerts in 6 months. On December 18, the legendary Pavilhão Atlântico concert took place.

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