Clothilde, João Hã?

"Downhill Vignettes" manifested itself quite casually during Clothilde's long and intimate research, mentalization and focus leading to the composition of her next album (to be released later in 2024): "I started by listening to previous albums and then I felt the need to listen to jams, recordings, rehearsals and even gigs in order to understand what had happened." When listening to her side on this tape, we are in fact witnessing phases of a betterment journey in the form of tests and ideas destined to carry the artist into a finished work of art. She rigorously reviewed the bulk of her recorded and mainly unreleased material and chose key moments out of many hours.

Having collected these pieces, there came the illumination that here, also, is a finished work of art. The austere beauty found in the 9 tracks reveals seriousness and commitment, it evokes an otherworldly atmosphere as much synthetic as organic. Concise narratives with (frequent) open endings, which are indifferent if we immerse ourselves in the sound, if we wish to co-inhabit these stories with their already established population. Open endings are then followed up within our minds. A Forbidden Planet with granted access.

João Hã? comes disconnected from his main project Calhau! (with Marta Ângela). It is impossible to attribute a rigid timeline to the proceedings that led up to "Quadrúpede Ergue-se Bípede De Gatas", as they are scattered throughout several years up until the final mixing stage. That bypassing of schedules and time frames echoes one other expression of freedom: the variety of recording methods. The artist enumerates "digital recorders, dictaphone, cellphone, smartphone, tape recorder (also microcassettes)". He assumes (we could almost say plans) the diversity so he can later deal creatively with the different results.