Hamad Al Mujeem, Malak Al-Suweihel
Aziz Motawa, and Afra Al Hassan
Published: 07.01.25
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Lechuga Zafiro - Desde los Oídos de un Sapo
Lechuga Zafiro’s album Desde los Oídos de un Sapo is a vital contribution to the growing conversation around sound, ecology, and the dissolution of anthropocentric perspectives in music. The Uruguayan producer’s debut album—crafted from field recordings collected across Uruguay, El Salvador, Chile, China, Argentina, and Portugal—is an atmospheric meditation on creating rhythmic bridges between the human, synthetic, and animal. It is music that doesn’t simply reflect the non-human world but listens to it, collaborates with it, and creates within it . The album’s seven tracks operate as a kind of sonic kinship. Toads, sea lions, birds, water, and raw materials like metal and wood share space with cutting-edge electronic rhythms. Rather than merely sampling these presences, Zafiro is sensitive to their agency.
In “Rana Cósmica,” amphibian croaks ripple like cosmic signals, intertwined with fractured percussion that feels both primal and futuristic. On “Vientos de Madera,” wind-like tones meld with the abrasive hum of manipulated plastics, creating a haunting atmosphere of organic and synthetic that collapses the boundaries between the two. Zafiro invites us to ask questions such as “How do forest green frogs process sound?”
Bela - Noise and Cries 굉음과 울음
Bela, a musician and performance artist based in Seoul and Berlin, mines their musical influence from Korean folk music and club culture. Bela’s performative style through an ictus of growling poetic stance over electronic rhythms is a reclamation of ‘queer’ art and expression and their latent anxieties in communication breakdown. Co-released by Unsound and Subtext, their latest LP, Bela Noise and Cries, takes elements of death metal, Berlin club culture, and Pungmul—a traditional Korean form of folk music that finds its roots in agricultural festivals serving as rituals to implore the divine for good harvest and communal solidarity. Captivating in its ethereal spectrum, yet grounded by its industrialized experimentation of sounds from post-punk, electronic, and elements of classical (Eurocentric), Bela Noise and Cries is a confessional, sonic diary that traverses a transformative melancholy on the fading transference of identity and self-actualization.
Iceboy Violet, Nueen - You Said You'd Hold My Hand Through The Fire
British rapper and vocalist Iceboy Violet, alongside Spanish producer Nueen, offer a raw and emotionally charged exploration of love and loss in ‘You Said You'd Hold My Hand Through The Fire,’ released under hyperdub. The album immerses listeners in an intimate soundscape, where the juxtaposition of lo-fi beats and raw, intimate lyrics creates a striking emotional depth. Each track unfolds like a personal diary, unpacking a new chapter of vulnerability. The sound is often dense and foggy, yet each moment is rich with texture, allowing the listener to feel the emotional undercurrents beneath the music. At its core, You Said You'd Hold My Hand Through The Fire is a poignant and personal journey, capturing both the tenderness of new beginnings and the pain of endings.