Elza Soares, the Brazilian samba diva whose life story could easily serve as a film script, is now somewhere in her seventies. Born in one of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, she won her first talent contest when barely sixteen. Married off at a young age, she was already widowed by the time she turned 21, having three children under her care. In the 1960s her career really took off, but when in 1966 she has an affair with the popular footballer Garrincha, the Brazilian press spits her out and the couple is even expelled from the country by the military junta. In the following decades, Elza gradually fades from view, but in 1997 she suddenly makes a comeback with 'Trajetória'. Since then, Elza Soares has become the muse of the samba sujo (samba flavored with influences from rock, free jazz and noise) scene in São Paulo and the voice of battered women, blacks, the LGBT-community and the working class. 'The Woman At The End Of The World' is Elza's 34th (!) studio album; a long player for which she cooperated with the cream of the avant-garde scene in São Paulo (Passo Torto, Bixiga 70...) under the guidance of producer Guilherme Kastrup who describes the singer as follows: "Elza is one of Brazil's greatest singers and an icon for people who believe in an equal and fair society. She is the singer who cries out against racial, gender and sexual discrimination.". The album opens with 'Coração Do Mar', in which Elza recites a poem by Brazilian modernist Oswald de Andrade, and title track 'Mulher Do Fim Do Mundo' she uses carnival as a metaphor for the Apocalypse. 'Maria Da Vila Matilde' tackles female abuse and 'Benedita' tells the story of a drag queen addicted to crack. Absolutely no easily listening, a fact Kastrup admits: "These songs are tense; they do not allow to relax.", or as Elza summarizes it herself: "Music is protest!".