Propelling itself forward with the horsepower of a race car running on strong coffee, the music on Epiblast by UK-based Brazilian composer Naná Rizinni shows enough restraint and a sensitivity to poised musicality that makes it all move seamlessly. Recorded after a period of personal transformation involving moving across the world, new parenthood, and personal loss, this collection sounds like an important and resounding statement from the artist, one that seeks and finds refuge in the music it involves.
The opening title track plays with advanced repetition of a short musical phrase and a solitary explicit lyric to present a portrait of artistic expression focused on establishing character. The character here is that of an eccentric jazz musician who hasn't forgotten about beauty as they twist their style towards something rockier and more progressive than you'll likely find at an established conservatory.
Even the more accessible and commercially-viable tracks like "The Wrong Side of the Escalator" are never comfortable resting on something easy, preferring to eschew form and tradition with short passages of electronic mayhem. Therein lies the intrigue: a musician clearly capable of achieving sophistication yet deciding to be more interesting instead.
"Fifth Life" has an ebullient air, all bouncy and floaty, making one feel like they are experiencing reduced gravity while mesmerising them with cold electronics and erratic bursts of rich acoustic instrumentation. "Familiar Stranger" paints with warmer tones all around, manifesting an elegant atmosphere of a ritzy cocktail bar, while brief hushed vocals find their place in the mix of extravagant strings and (what sounds like) persistent drumming and crunchy guitars like a lost deerling finding a restful glade in a jungle.
Overall, the mixing of jazz sentiments with experimental electronica leads “Epiblast” to a crossover chock-full of delightful ideas and colourful music that is as transportive as it is neurologically recalibrating.
★★★★★