'Beware, a wolf' is the rough translation of Portuguese artist Luis F. Sousa's pseudonym. His debut album is apparently a response to the economic downturn in his country.
If he were a folk singer, this record would probably be full of protest songs with the 'wolves' being the unscrupulous financial dealers (boo!...hiss!).
Instead he is an 'Indie' artist whose m.o. is to favor synthesizers over guitars and to prefer muffled vocalizing over fervent ranting. The emphasis in on atmospherics more than slogans. A general mood of claustrophobia prevails.
Sousa says his musical project "allowed me to drift away whilst still being awake, facing adversity, oblivious of any consequences".
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His songs have unearthly treated vocals or no singing at all. Those with lyrics express quietly desperate sentiments like "I'm holding on"(Serotonin) and "I'm finding it hard to breathe" (Suffocation).
A pulsing intensity drives him forward while the baby babble on the title tune reaches out to a new generation.
It perversely ends with a wordless track entitled Introduction.
And it's pretty cool. If this is what results from austerity measures then things can't be all bad.
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