Sangue Suor

(PT)

Some music is born of a place. And some music is born of a need.

Portugal has a long-standing relationship with rhythm. From the percussion of the batuques that crossed the Atlantic to the taut skins of festival drums and bass drums. It is a country that holds within its body what it cannot express in words. At a time when almost everything fits onto a screen, three musicians decided to insist on the opposite: on weight, on matter, on the physical encounter with the instrument.

It all began with a number: 106. The years of existence of the Theatro Circo de Braga, celebrated in April 2021 with the commissioning of a commemorative track. Rui Rodrigues, a veteran of projects such as At Freddy’s House, OSSO and Ângela Polícia, proposed something unusual: a percussive moment shared with other drummers. He invited Ricardo Martins, whose extensive career includes Pop Dell'Arte, Jibóia and Filho da Mãe, and Susie Filipe, of the Moonshiners and SIRICAIA. The resulting track was called Sangue & Suor.

The three come from different backgrounds: rock, experimental music, theatre, the street. But they recognised themselves in the same hunger for sound. This was followed by artistic residencies in Leiria, far from the pressure of the stage, in search of a language they had not yet explored together. In 2023, they released O Salto, produced in partnership between Theatro Circo and Omnichord Records, featuring six tracks and guests who map out a vibrant and diverse Portuguese scene: Surma, Selma Uamusse, LARIE and Cabrita. Names that open up the trio’s rhythmic universe to melodies, synthesizers and electronic textures, in a dialogue between organic percussion and processed layers.

Sangue Suor’s sonic identity is a rare beast. Three drum kits arranged like a small army, polyrhythms that could just as easily evoke dance as trance, a nightclub as a shamanic ritual.

The resulting sound is restless and crosses boundaries between the experimental and the danceable, between fury and meditation, between chamber jazz and electronica, between Portugal itself and the diaspora.

Sangue Suor arrive at Med with a well-established repertoire and a rapport on stage that only time can create. That which remains after giving everything.