The echoes of Marlene Ribeiro’s sound universe have long been felt – and from various points. Keeping an enigmatic aura in a work of searching for expressions, we feel a constant flow of telluric energy halfway with fantasy. As a member of the mythical Gnod, she crackled some of the best psychedelicism of our day; with Negra Branca, she blew the fire and made a new ritual out of the ashes. Folk primitivism and kraut visions sedimented a sandy terrain that still housed collaborations with Valentina Magaletti (in the brilliant Due Matte), Charles Hayward, Temple Ov BBV or even Thurston Moore. Already this year, Toquei no Sol is a record that revolves Ribeiro’s memories and roots, intertwining them in a sub-sonic mantle of different patches, colors and shapes. With melodic elements more present than ever, the light comes from where you least expect it. Be it in the ebullition of micro tones, in the field captures and even in the densest nebulous touches. Thus, a set of imaginary portraits of a time and space in suspension and understanding emerges. More than necessary, perhaps it would be even urgent, to feel this strain of beatific lethargy in our heads again.
On the other hand, the insularity of Inês Malheiro’s work has manifested itself in a very genuine way. Through her voice she channels enchanting ideas and symbologies; complex yes, but innate in their origin and demand. She fascinates through this immediate contact, which grabs us and pulls us into a kind of fleeting parallel reality. Deusa Náusea was able to take the senses by storm from the outset, letting instinct unveil the multiple labyrinthine scenarios. Malheiro creates and uses a language of infinite resources, sometimes as disparate as they are familiar. She moves on this thin thread that balances speculation and reality; in fact, she extracts from it a handful of creative possibilities far adrift from linear reasoning.
Two voices that this night will perform solo and together, in a rare moment of stage sharing resulting from a residency in Porto. A magnetic encounter by nature, precise in the epochal instant in which it happens and promising a strange vital magic. NA
