Brazil's BIKE takes us on an Amazonian trip on 'Arte Bruta' album, the most daring leap in the group's career

São Paulo's BIKE releases 'Arte Bruta' album, the most daring leap in the group's career

FOCUS TRACKS: Traço e Risco, O Torto Santo, Cedro, Traço e Risco, Filha do Vento, Santa Cabeça
FOR FANS OF: The Black Angels, Tame Impala, Kikagaku Moyo, Beak, Os Mutantes, Goat, Osees, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Ty Segall
INFLUENCED BY: Os Mutantes, Pedro Santos, Sonic Youth, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Walter Franco, Lula Côrtes, Silver Apples, Syd Barret, Can, The Velvet Underground, Neu!

Photos by Bel Gandolfo

'Arte Bruta' LP  https://bikeoficial.bandcamp.com/album/arte-bruta
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/album/1FV9seTaqwRxdfvLXDZOLa
'Santa Cabeça'  https://youtu.be/GsJ9p67wvV4
'Filha Do Vento'  https://youtu.be/4VzY_Tlw2mU
‘O Torto Santo’  https://youtu.be/1LZbP5peNO4

EARLIER VIDEOS
'Boca do Sol' (2020)  https://youtu.be/cnHaQbdBG9w
'A Divina Máquina Voadora' (2018)  https://youtu.be/r1C1Lx8Ktw0
'Enigma do Dente Falso' (2016)  https://youtu.be/cbYN9UUeyWA
'Terra em Chamas' (2018)  https://youtu.be/ttTL5NYt_vU

"Ultimate ambassadors of Brazilian musicality... creative, trance-inducing, percussive- and groove-led explosion of beautiful sound" ~ The Spill Magazine

"Cool blend of slightly trippy vibes, sunshine breaking through the haze sonics, drifting ambiance, and some darker, more brooding musical lines to add ballast and edge" ~ Big Takeover Magazine

"Positive, reflective and stimulating... The light of the sun is here with slight strobes of dark trippiness caught between the trance-like guitar riffs" ~ Amplify Music Magazine 

"A blurring of psyche-rock and tropicalia forms a wall of intrigue... a duvet of graceful momentum" ~ Sound Read Six

"Mellow lined, inner exploring vocals and sultry melodic weaving... an animated adventure to bass and drums, a rhythmic liveliness bringing rich energy and movement to the intimation soaked landscape" ~ Ringmaster Review


Brazil-based sonic adventurers BIKE have released their ‘Arte Bruta' album, their fifth overall and the first since the Covid pandemic broke. Led by producer and guitarist Guilherme Held, this recording exudes maturity and embraces a more Brazilian sound than past releases.

Released via Quadrado Mágico Records and Before Sunrise Records, the blazing musical path they have traversed in the past few months saw them perform live on Seattle's KEXP, play dozens of shows at SXSW and Treefort Music Fest, support The Brian Jonestown Massacre in their native city, and release three singles - 'Santa Cabeça' ('Holy Head'), 'Filha Do Vento' ('Daughter of the Wind') and 'O Torto Santo' ('The Sacred Crooked').

Formed in 2015 by Julito Cavalcante (guitar and vocals), Diego Xavier (guitar and voice), Daniel Fumega (drums) and João Gouvea (bass), BIKE's trajectory has been one of long journeys - both sonically and geographically.

The ‘Arte Bruta’ album represents the process of self-analysis this psych-rock, post-Tropicalia, noise rock collective has undergone in recent years, resulting in the most daring leap in the group's career. A slow-burning mirror, this album took the band the longest time to compose and record. The intricate and consummate result can be enjoyed with every passing minute of listening pleasure.

Like most of the band's albums, 'Arte Bruta' started with the title and the megalomaniac idea of releasing the album on vinyl with just two lengthy compositions. While the downtime of the pandemic allowed this to expand into something much greater, the title itself remained, alluding to the clash between artistic sophistication and the harshness of brutality. Seen by many as an artistic movement, especially because of its French nomenclature, "art brut", the term designates creators who are not aware that their creation can be seen as art.

The band's characteristic psychedelia is still there, but the musical and lyrical references transcend the lysergic references of previous albums.  There is also an Afro-Brazilian filter that runs through 'Arte Bruta', as well as echoes of international rock - 60s psychedelic rock, 70s tropicalism and post-tropicalism, German progressive rock and the rhythmic structure of krautrock.

BIKE released their debut album '1943' in 2015, followed by 'Em Busca da Viagem Eterna' (2017), 'Their Shamanic Majesties' Third Request' (2018) and 'Quarto Templo' (2019) - each bringing them critical acclaim. BIKE is also the only Brazilian band that has released music ('Enigma Do Dente Falso') in 2014) through Columbia Records imprint, 30th Century Records, founded by cult American producer Danger Mouse.

In addition to touring Europe three times and playing more than 400 shows in 16 Brazilian states, BIKE has also shared the stage with The Black Angels and Os Mutantes.

As of May 5, the 'Arte Bruta' album is available from fine digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp.

TRACK LIST
01  Arcoverde
02  Além-Ambiente
03  O Torto Santo
04  Cedro feat. Guilherme Held
05  Traço e Risco
06  Filha do Vento
07  Clara-Luz
08  Além-Céu
09  Que vai da Terra ao Céu
10  O Encontro do Céu com a Terra
11  Santa Cabeça
12  A Queda do Céu
13  Yaripo

ALBUM CREDITS
Recorded by Gustavo Mendes & Guilherme Held
Recorded at Estúdio Held in São Paulo
Mixed by Guilherme Held
Mastered by Fernando Sanches at Estúdio El Rocha
Produced by Guilherme Held
Lyrics by Julito Cavalcante
Songs by BIKE, except 'Arcoverde" and 'Além-Céu' by Guilherme Held and "Cedro" and 'Yaripo' by Guilherme Held and BIKE
Julito Cavalcante – vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, garabiroba and percussion
Diego Xavier – vocals, electric guitar and acoustic guitar
Daniel Fumega – drums and percussions
João Gôuvea – bass, synthesizers and harmonium
Guilherme Held – electric guitar on Cedro
Cover artwork and design by Juli Ribeiro


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