Riding Pânico – Rabo de Cavalo (2017)

Alright, this came out last month but I didn’t want to let it go under the radar. Riding Pânico’s latest endeavour is pleasantly contemplative, but also packs a secret punch to it, draping you in dreamy, curious atmospheres only to slowly hit you with a gut-felt heaviness indicative of their sludge/stoner roots (the ending to ‘Táxi Mágico’ and ‘Terreiro do Espaço’ are bound to make you scrunch your face and head-bob).

After an experimental shift on Homem Elefante, they seem to have built upon that chaotic complexity and smoothed it out, giving Rabo de Cavalo an effortlessly graceful flow, adeptly juxtaposing intricate melodies with expansive and deceptively noisy atmospheres. There’s a warm, fuzzy feel to the whole thing, punctuated by eerie, pitch flexing  guitar licks (‘Rosa Mota‘) and some good old rockin’ out.

Evoking the traditional Portuguese sentiment, “Saudade” (one of deep longing and fond remembrance), their arrangements remind me of the approach taken by Scandinavian bands (also characteristically melancholic), such as post/math-rockers The Samuel Jackson Five (‘Café Del Mar’) and jazz/prog-rockers Jaga Jazzist (‘Pop Santeiro’), with their usage of sombre, spacious textures and repetitious, layered instrumentation that drive the tempo, allowing the drums to explore more expressive, but still complimentary, rhythms. It all feels very alluring, but comfortable. Great listen on a rainy day.