Hidden Waters: Strange & Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro

Over four sides of vinyl, Hidden Waters: Strange & Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro charts a surge of creativity and camaraderie born from Rio’s underground that's now firmly making its way into the national consciousness. This 23-track compilation documents a landmark moment in popular Brazilian music, deep-diving into a wellspring of vibrant and vanguard sounds. Spotlighting the last decade’s most defining releases, as well as giving a platform to upcoming artists, unreleased material and left-field experimentation, the compilation collects and canonises a vital pool of talent which is reshaping the sound of Brazilian music.

Hidden Waters features such musicians as seminal scene mainstays Negro Leo, Ava Rocha and Kassin, Brazilian jazz upstart Antônio Neves, critically-lauded avant-pop trailblazer Thiago Nassif, breakthrough artists Ana Frango Elétrico and Letrux, lo-fi psych rocker Lê Almeida, and sonic explorer Cadú Tenorio, as well as revelatory new voices Raquel Dimantas and ROSABEGE, among many others. 

The music on Hidden Waters is unequivocally Brazilian, swelling with samba, bossa nova, funk and jazz. But it’s the album’s blend - from sunny psychedelia to dusky synth pop, via experimental electronics and euphoric disco - that marks the compilation as the sound of modern, multicultural Rio. Fans of Brazil’s fertile sixties and seventies will spot the antecedents in Tropicália. Not only in the experimentation but also through the music’s similar political context: back then it was Brazil’s military dictatorship, now it’s Bolsonaro’s censorious premiership. This is a group of musicians writing a colourful chapter within Brazil’s musical history.

This comprehensive compilation comes with album artwork designed by Rio music’s leading album artwork designer, Caio Paiva. It features essays by professor and music critic Bernardo Oliveira and music journalist Leonardo Lichote, plus extensive notes on each track by the artists themselves.

Sounds and Colours have launched a vinyl fundraising campaign for Hidden Waters: Strange & Sublime Sounds of Rio de Janeiro via Bandcamp Vinyl.