Adriano Selva: The Soulful Pop Dreamer Who Feels It All

In a world that often rewards detachment, Adriano Selva chooses to stand beautifully exposed. His voice, steeped in emotion and honesty, moves like a slow wave: warm, deliberate, marked by both light and bruises. The Brussels-based singer-songwriter invites listeners into a universe where vulnerability is strength and every note carries the weight of his experiences. Drawing from Italian and Portuguese roots, he creates a sound that feels intensely personal yet universal — a bridge between the poetry of Aznavour and the cinematic intimacy of Lana Del Rey.

For Adriano, songwriting begins in the body: “I usually start with a feeling that I associate with an image, a scene in my mind, or a word,” he explains. “Once I have the mental visuals for it, I start composing the melody. I won’t validate a song unless I get goosebumps myself or some emotional response.” He describes this process as a kind of excavation, a commitment to truth rather than convention. “I don’t want to write a sad song just because I want to write something generically sad,” he adds. 

“I need to know what made me feel this way, then dissect it to the maximum. What other emotions are associated with it? How can I spin the story in all its details and nuances?”

These questions lie at the heart of Amour Moderne, his new EP out February 6th. The project feels like a series of cinematic vignettes — fragments of love, loss, melancholy and self-rediscovery suspended between nostalgia and awakening. In the studio, Adriano tries to let go of control, to make space for chance and imperfection. “I’ve been noticing there needs to be space for miracles. To make room for something unexpected, one needs to know how to let go.” That openness translates into a sound both tender and fearless, one that keeps evolving as he does.

Before becoming Adriano Selva, he performed under the name CHAiLD, an identity that centered on his queer experience. The new chapter reaches further, embracing everything that makes him who he is. “Whereas CHAiLD was quite centered around my queerness, this project is about my whole self,” he reflects. “I’m a queer man, that’s obvious, but this time I also want to talk about my origins, my family, the things that shaped me.” His queerness, he says, will always permeate his music — not as a label but as a lens of sensitivity, a way of seeing and feeling the world.

This shedding of skin brought him closer to peace with his image and his body. “All along, the answer was to just strip down to the person my close ones get to experience every day, without putting a performance, or thinking I need a specific brand to make it work,” Adriano says. “It’s a relief. I wake up every day being proud of the music I’m putting out now. And if there’s noise around, I remind myself that all I do is tell my story — something no one can copy or take away from me.”

Brussels, where he has lived for the last five years, plays a decisive role in this evolution. “When I first arrived, I had just come out one and a half years earlier,” he recalls. “I had no idea what it meant to be part of a community that cares for each other. Brussels really educated me. It showed me the beautiful spectrum of queerness, but also its challenges and wounds.” From its nightlife to its creative scenes and quiet streets, the city became both mirror and home. “I made many queer friends here, and fell out with many too, but one thing is for sure: this city’s queer scene really taught me how to stand for those with fewer privileges than me. I’ll always be grateful for the person it made me become.”

That commitment and tenderness flow through Amour Moderne. It is a body of work made for late-night metros and quiet mornings, a record driven by emotion, connection, and the courage to feel deeply in a world that urges us not to. Adriano Selva’s songs remind us that honesty is radical, vulnerability is art, and love — in all its modern forms — still finds a way to make itself heard.

Amour Moderne  is out now on all streaming platforms.

Interview by Edy Dinca for Ket Mag