Pena ao Mar

A curious album by this Brazilian musician, who is perhaps best known as a member of psych-punk outfit Rakta. Listen in passing and it slots neatly in alongside other explorers of stately, spiralling ambience, and modular synth meanderings – think Sarah Davachi, Caterina Barbieri, and so on. Closer listening reveals something knottier and less predictable. The tones are guided expertly into place, but they sometimes chafe and rub against each other; when circular synth patterns emerge, as on the title track, they’re propulsive, but they also fight against spindrift tonal explorations that threaten to swamp and swarm the mise-en-scène. Boregas is a confident composer; she guides her material thoughtfully, letting it say what it needs to say without getting in the way, but still sculpting something deeply personal.