Aware that intense times demand intense art, Aya Sinclair is one of the artists of the moment on this front line. She uses the visceral nature of contaminating noise and words that spit out challenging experiences in a limbo between reality, paranoia, and dreams. She pulls the rug out from under our feet, out of our comfort zone, and takes us through imaginary spaces of futuristic shamanism, wild electronica, and other strange dissociative worlds. The discovery of these confines is real and translates into an immersive listening experience with a sharp and disconcerting activation of the senses.
Their latest album, hexed!, has established itself as one of the most exciting sound documents of the year, having been featured in the British magazine Wire. In just over half an hour, aya delivers a set of dark hymns that urgently need to be echoed. If in the previous im hole there was a feeling of a cold layer covering an emotional numbness, this second album brings more palpitation and spasm to the material. Each element seems to be maximized to the point of unrecognizability, bringing new morphologies. In terms of themes, there are many ghosts haunting this robust, tense album: the confession of her struggle towards sobriety, a sexual orientation stubbornly not accepted by the majority, and the complex uncertainty of the times that make all questions even more agonizing. However, contrary to what one might expect, hexed! does not dispense with moments of euphoria—albeit distorted according to the British artist’s alchemy. There is an attraction to the profane and the magic of the unknown in lyrics that claim the female condition in a world in increasing collapse. Enchantment and disenchantment are taken to a sonic landscape with ASMR touches and industrial maneuvers distilled with fire and iron. None of this will make more sense than on stage, unleashing the beasts and witnessing one of the creative forces of the moment. Whether or not we live in the Anthropocene era, the question becomes more vivid than ever. An imperious return. NA.

Bruno Silva’s entity – tcp Ondness, part of Má Estrela or Fala Mariam 3 – whose vision sublimates beat and percussion in their rhythmic, textural, and timbral dimensions, continuously gathering and reorganizing particles of dance, dub, jungle, or free jazz. Throughout his career, he has released tracks on labels such as London-based Alien Jams and Ecstatic and, more recently, Souk and Sucata Tapes, sub-labels of Discrepant.