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From<\/strong> Jo\u00e3o Pessoa, Brazil Thanks in part to its famed music department at the local Federal University of Para\u00edba, Jo\u00e3o Pessoa \u2013 the easternmost city in South America \u2013 is a hotbed of artists playing different folk styles from all over the continent. Papangu sound like all of them at the same time. The five-piece blend a long list of genres: bossa nova, the circle-dance song ciranda<\/em> and forr\u00f3<\/em>, with its dry-tuned accordion and pulsing rhythm section, plus the more ubiquitous progressive rock and extreme metal. The band\u2019s virtuoso chops and intensity keep their songs from buckling under the weight of those ideas, from the hurried drums to the mountains of synthesisers and pianos.<\/p>\n For their upcoming third album, Celestial, the band recorded everything live in just nine days and refused to use any kind of computer in order to make a statement against AI music. After all, what program designed to scrape existing ideas from the internet could produce something as genre-splicing and organic as this<\/em>?<\/p>\n Papangu broke through in Brazil when they played to more than 50,000 people at Slipknot\u2019s festival, Knotfest, in 2024. Now they\u2019re focused on Europe, scheduled to tour the UK for the second time in two years, and they play Bristol\u2019s experimental festival Arctangent this August. If Angine de Poitrine<\/a> have set a precedent for proudly technical, outsider music finding a mass audience, then who\u2019s to say these maestros can\u2019t repeat that trick? It would be another nice break from the AI slop filling up most people\u2019s feeds, at least. Matt Mills<\/em><\/p>\n
Recommended if you like<\/strong> Hermeto Pascoal, Mr Bungle, King Crimson
Up next<\/strong> Celestial album released 7 August, touring the UK and Europe from 15 August<\/p>\nThis week\u2019s best new tracks<\/h2>\n