Blacksea Não Maya – Máquina De Vénus – LP

“Máquina De Vénus” lands about 5 years since Blacksea Não Maya‘s previous release on Príncipe, shifting the music into another dimension. Side A brings forth a sense of unease, despite the last track being named “Tchiling District”. Slow, grinding beats, moody atmospheres, a clear break from the norm, one that sounds as sudden and surprising as the arrhythmia on “7even”. Sombre times for sure, the producers went with the flow and let their soul speak, opening up to those dark corners our brains have and stepping into them to embrace individuality (no two dark corners are alike).

This results in music that sounds like nothing else BNM did before. To be honest, it’s fairly new territory anywhere. “Horizonte” opens side B with a sprawling chrome surface as far as the eye can see, before blocks of beats return to haunt in “Bubadagash”. Quirky and tense. “Estranhos e Loucos” is a proper dancefloor tune with a catchy, bouncy bassline and vocal snippets that clearly demonstrate where this continuum touches UK’s so-called hardcore continuum. We’re all in the same Planet, right? And it’s not Venus.

BNM: “Venus is the planet of Love but in this case it’s love in the real world, which also brings pain that one has to endure in order to keep on loving.”
B4 is “Africanalidade”, taking us back to familiar territory but borders are kept open into the future. Our collective choice, not so much to cross them as to erase them.

Príncipe Discos