Itapeti Souls EP by Handpan
More than thirty years of friendship under the sun and still counting; the Brazilian musical producers Alexandre Lora & Arthur Moraes (AVM) never replaced or forgot their bonding; they withstood the ups and downs, hardships, cross-country moves and other changes over the years. And we cannot resist at all a pact between friends to produce music together for fun. In this case, came into view ‘Handpan’ and its debut Itapeti Souls EP.
Besides being part of the title, ‘Serra do Itapeti’ is also the background for their childhood, the uneven terrain of the Brazilian relief called ‘Mares de Morros’, which extends for thousand hectares of the State of Sao Paulo, including their hometown Atibaia. And since the way producers do music has evolved significantly in the past two decades, curiously the duo leisurely cooked this 5-track EP over two years, mainly due to an unmatched free-time schedule.
After all mentioned before is quietly easy to understand the work’s name; 28 minutes long and includes two original tracks — ‘Connecting Souls’ and ‘Itapeti’, one rework from Nada’s track Passana, and the two tracks remixing ‘Itapeti’ — one by the psychedelic wizard Yabiru and other as a tribal version. And as the duo’s name indicates, this project is purely based on the handpans, instruments that possess a great resonance and through their round, convex shape, their sounds emanate in all directions, filling the minds with vibration and resonance. Throughout its holding the EP shares tranquil, joyful, meditative and mysterious off-limits atmospheres while being driving-mood and here and there adds haunting nuances.
Hard to define, though easy-listening. Somehow it unfolds delicately outward in sparkling layers of warm construction, solid percussion and unpredictable vocals; there’s an underlined hoovering consciousness all over the pieces, putting it under the lens of what’s bubbling in their sonic micro universe.
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credits
released January 27, 2022
Music\ by Handpan — Alexandre Lora & Arthur Moraes (AVM)
soundcloud.com/a-v-m
www.instagram.com/__avm__/
avmarthur@hotmail.com
Artwork\ Mrs. Räbbit
Master\ Yabiru
soundcloud.com/yabiru
www.instagram.com/yabiru.sonhador/
yabiru777@gmail.com