In 2021, the reissue of Seefeel’s discography on Warp/Rephlex in the 1990s reminded us how unforgiving the present often is, because of the mania for trends and listening to what you can understand at the moment. They started out as a guitar band, were associated – correctly – with shoegaze, but that was also a curse for what followed, when they transformed the idea of songs into electronic shadows. Because, after all, from the very beginning, even on ‘Quique’, their more formal first album, they were a band of substance and less of the comfort of the known.

The Warp reissues created a reason to listen again to music that was too angular to be understood by the guitar tunnel vision crowd and too sympathetic to Warp’s avant-garde matrix at the time. Suddenly, many deniers rediscovered and re-evaluated them, another generation discovered that the music of Mark Clifford and Sarah Peacock was too timeless to be lost in 1990s labels. In other words, the reissues allowed them to be recontextualised and that opened the door to wanting them back.

Even so, this year’s mini-album came as a surprise. ‘Everything Squarred’ is a natural evolution of their sound, not what they left behind in the 1990s, or even on the 2010 album of the same name, but an abstract evolution of what we would idealise them to sound like in 2024. Today’s present, however, is kinder to them. They have paved the way for other projects/bands to experiment for over three decades and now it’s as if they’re coming back to reap the rewards. Not for a celebratory spin, but to show how the present is more alive than nostalgia, that no matter how much we celebrate their albums from the 1990s, what they create today is relevant, contemporary and timely. It’s still the sound, it’s still about the sound and an insatiable quest to materialise that sound. For those from another time, shoegaze is still there, in another form, which is also timely. To see them in action, in an A/V show, in 2025, is a privilege. AS

Helena Silva was born on 3 May 1996 in Porto. She began her musical studies in 2008 with Professor Armando González at the Escola Profissional de Música de Viana do Castelo. At 18, she enrolled at the University of Aveiro, where she completed her degree under the guidance of Professors José Pereira and Nuno Soares. In 2019, she completed her Master’s in Music Education at the same university with Professor Nuno Soares. Helena actively participated as both performer and observer in violin masterclasses with renowned professors such as David Dolan, Lyonel Schmit, Alexandra Greffin, Daniel Rowland, Augusto Trindade, José Paulo Jesus, Barry Cooper, Zofia Woycicka, Kai Gleusteen, and in chamber music with Ryszard Woycicki.

Throughout her journey, Helena joined various orchestras, including the Orquestra Arte Sinfónica, Orquestra Viv’Arte, Orquestra DeCa, Braga Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Con Spirito, Movimento Musical Cooperativo Orchestra, and Barcina Orchestra. She also took part in the 2nd National Youth Symphony Orchestra AMCC Workshop, the 14th National Orchestra Workshop by Aproarte, and the 2nd Summer Academy of the Remix Ensemble at Casa da Música, under the direction of maestros Peter Rundel, Javier Viceiro, Ernst Schelle, Juliàn Lombana, Ariana Dantas, Vítor Matos, José Eduardo Gomes, Diogo Costa, Jan Wierzba, Luís Carvalhoso, Rui Pinheiro, Luís Carvalho, Kira Omelchenko, among others.

She has performed at various concert venues in Portugal, including Casa da Música, Centro Cultural de Belém, Coliseu do Porto, Europarque, Teatro Aveirense, Teatro Sá de Miranda, and Theatro Circo.

In 2021, she completed her Master’s in Music Performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, studying under Professors Hector Scott and Bernard Docherty. During her time in Scotland, she had the opportunity to work with various ensembles, such as the Kelvin Ensemble and Nevis Ensemble, led the RCS Orchestra, and was selected to participate in a side-by-side with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

Alongside her development as an instrumentalist and classical music performer, between 2013 and 2018 Helena Silva was a member of the Barcelos-based band indignu [lat.], with whom she recorded the albums “Odyssea” and “Ophelia.” She also contributed to the albums of artists like Cícero, Grutera, and Filipe Miranda. In 2015, she was invited to accompany the British artist Antony & the Johnsons, now known as Anohni, during a performance at the NOS Primavera Sound festival.

In 2023, Helena began collaborations with conductor Martim Sousa Tavares on pieces “O Anel do Unicórnio” and “Uma Outra Bela Adormecida,” and with director Ricardo Neves-Neves on the play “Twelfth Night.” In March 2023, she released her debut EP, titled “Manta,” with the track “Trópico” receiving recognition from the BBC.

Later that year, she undertook a two-week artist residency, where she had the opportunity to collaborate with a number of international artists and began composing what would become her first solo album.

Throughout 2024, Helena has been focused on composing and recording her debut album, titled “Celeste,” which will be released on March 21, 2025 by the label Modern Drift.