Da Linha by PEDRO

First teased with the release of bubbling lead single ‘Calores’ in January, ‘Da Linha’ crowns a defining breakthrough three years for PEDRO that have seen him establish himself as one of Portugal’s most vibrant and exciting new-school producers. His debut EP ‘Damaia’ (2017) – named after the suburb of Lisbon he was born in – immediately signposted a bright, borderless and completely unique club sound, which has since been best emphasised by 2019 releases including the Buraka Som Sistema-sampling ‘Rapazes’ and a breathless collaboration with Nigerian MC, Magugu (‘Too Much’), both of which feature on the LP tracklist.

First inspired by his older brother, who would introduce PEDRO to the latest electronic music from all over Europe, PEDRO references DJ Rolando’s ‘Knights Of Jaguar’ as a memorable early touch point – a record he still credits with influencing the melodies he writes to this day. Living and growing up in Damaia, a neighbourhood of Amadora, the biggest and most diverse Lisbon suburb which counts almost 20% of migrant population, mostly from former Portuguese colonies such as Angola, Cape Verde or Brazil, exposing him to a whole patchwork of new sounds and genres like kuduro and kizomba from a very young age.

In Portuguese, ‘Da Linha’ translates to mean ‘of the line’, an extended name-slash-title that’s been given to PEDRO over the years. ‘The line’ here refers to the Sintra line, a train line that connects Lisbon to Amadora and PEDRO’s neighbourhood of Damaia. The artwork builds on this idea by presenting a futuristic take on the aesthetics of public transportation signage, while also adopting the colours of the Amadora council flag — an open dedication to PEDRO’s hometown and all of its unique musical and cultural influences.
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released March 20, 2020