Drawing is the ultimate trust. These sketches show the magic that comes once a line is made.

Jasper Marsalis thus opens an insightful essay on that intrinsic, somewhat inexplicable force that is the act of scribbling shapes on paper; an incursion into the unconscious and the moment of pure freedom that happens in the form of a stream of consciousness. This idea is reflected in the music of Slauson Malone 1, one of the most creative players in rap in this time period. Quiet Farwel, 2016-2018 brought a whole new world of incredible expressions and visions. The Afro diaspora, abstractionism and so many other evocations that unite the past with the future – here in one container. The foundations of jazz emerged melted into watery beats and unusual vocalizations rescued soul, indie rock and hip hop mutations from sonic treatment. Now, from a distance, the immediacy of an instant classic.

Vergangenheitsbewältigung was the chapter that followed, in an EP recontextualizing and taking further the material responsible for the smash hit debut album. The motto of taking the same exact song and transforming it into another theme gave us an innovative album, a kind of sonic corpse-esque that quickly became unforgettable. It’s no stranger to the radar of Warp, a major label in more exploratory electronica, which invited Malone 1 to join its catalog in the middle of 2023. From the first second, Excelsior promises a sensory experience to anyone who listens. Eighteen compositions, in deliberately snippet mode, traverse psychedelia, folk and a soul surrealism that is as delicate as it is enigmatic. In a fit of delirium, it could be said that this is a sonic chapter in the Atlanta series that has yet to be realized.

Following a much-anticipated tour that kicked off in Seattle, the musician arrives in Lisbon in a cloak of curiosity and enthusiasm. It’s hard to imagine what it will be like when he steps on stage. We know about his presence and his work, as well as the fact that the performative act is a philosophy of life that he won’t give up. Few, but powerful certainties of a celebration of uncertainty before us. NA

A bunch of very young people from the city, who have split up with all their complicity between the projects YUNG XALANA, 80 TU & EU and casaxangai under the umbrella of MEIA FÉ, come home after their debut at the Cafetra Festival at SMUP, in a kind of continuity with the (almost) veteran collective in the urgency and way of making things happen. Born as a possible solution to the torpor and suffocation that has become Lisbon, MEIA FÉ try to find moments of light and communion in the middle of this shit through their DIY romance songs: the dream pop of 80 TU & EU, the catchy lo-fi filth of YUNG XALANA and the disenchanted indie pop of casaxangai. Filled with self-referentiality and mentions of people like King Krule and Gerard Way, MEIA FÉ’s lyrics discuss these post-adolescent experiences and anxieties in a way that is as slick as it is clever. It’s all very honest, lived with the necessary flexibility to try and make it better. In their words: “Counting the days. Or making the days count. One at a time”. Mantra for these days. BS