Moura Premiere Fume Santo de Loureiro EP in Full; Out Friday
This week, Galician heavy psychedelic ambassadors Moura release their new EP, Fume Santo de Loureiro, through Spinda Records. Pointedly straightforward in its cover art, it is the folk-informed A Coruña-based troupe’s first offering since their stellar second full-length, Axexan, Espreitan (review here), which came out in 2022, and its 18 minutes double as the soundtrack to a short film called Nai, which is also set in the band’s hometown.
In the lush, organ-infused melodies of “Agoiro / Pranto” before it moves to claps and other hand percussion and a building harmonized chant until it does a slow-to-fast to finish on a tom drum and maybe tambourine, and in the eight-minute “Contra Os Males de Aireada,” which swirls in lazily but bursts to life almost immediately thereafter on a molten course of Mellotron, soft guitar twists and intertwining vocals, Fume Santo de Loureiro offers engrossing, progressively textured psychedelia and impeccably mixed arrangements. The EP’s intro is presumably sounds taken from the film, and closer “Canto de Berce” brings a folkish duet accompanied by guitar and drums before it opens just before it enters the last of its three minutes to choral keyboard that gives a Morricone-esque impression until dropping out to let standalone vocals end, but anywhere they go and however they get there, Moura keep a firm grip on atmosphere and the sense of the music telling a story even apart from the traditions being engaged throughout.
If you heard either Axexan, Espreitan or Moura‘s 2020 self-titled debut (review here), the richness of what they offer in Fume Santo de Loureiro will be familiar in its distinction. I’d specifically like to address anyone who didn’t hear either of those releases, though. If that’s you, and maybe this is the first time you’re hearing the band, give it a go front to back. It’s under 20 minutes, so it’s not like they’re eating your whole afternoon, and the expanses they harness in sound are so much broader than the time it takes to listen. Not that it’s any kind of challenge to get through either of their to-date two LPs, but even if you don’t go chase down and watch Nai (I haven’t seen it either) and even if you don’t speak the language (I don’t either), the songs make it okay. They could hardly make it easier for you to dig in and get a sense of what they’re about in terms of style, and I firmly believe that once you do, you won’t regret it.
As bottom lines go, that’s the one for this. Whether you have prior familiarity or you don’t, Moura are worth your time. The band’s take on psychedelia and what they bring to it in terms of representing Galician culture and musical traditions aren’t the kind of thing that could ever really be influential outside their regional sphere — that is, if a band from Sweden came out trying to sound like them, the results would probably be ridiculous — but their individuality is all the more a strength as they move forward, whether it’s the emergence of the duet vocals, the finer detailing of keys and synth, the grace of rhythm that unites the material, or the futurism that seems to come from all the elements put together, even as so much of it honors real or imagined pasts.
I won’t delay further. Moura‘s Fume Santo de Loureiro streams in full below, and you can either hit their Bandcamp or follow the review links (yeah right) to hear more of their work. I encourage you to do that, whatever the route you take.
Please enjoy:
After their self-titled debut, the stand-alone single “Muiñeira da Maruxaina” (included as part of compilation boxset Grados. Minutos. Segundos.), and their second studio album ‘Axexan, espreitan’, the band Moura, renowned for their commitment to exploring and preserving Galician tradition, is pleased to announce their upcoming studio EP titled ‘Fume santo de loureiro’, set to be released on May 31 with Spinda Records. This new conceptual EP has been conceived as the original soundtrack for the short film ‘Nai’, directed by filmmaker Tito Refoxo, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Brais do Rei, the band’s current drummer.
The title of this new multidisciplinary project involving members of Moura originates from exorcising and healing expression used in various Galician rituals, which aligns perfectly with the storyline of ‘Nai’. In the short film, a family from the village of Rois (A Coruña, Spain) becomes entangled in a dark tragedy with the disappearance of the little one of the house. Shocked and desperate for answers, the family members are compelled to come together in an attempt to unravel the mystery that has cast shadows over their lives.
For this project, the band moved to Hertzcontrol Studios in Seixas (Portugal), with the collaboration of producer and engineer Marco Lima. The mastering was handled by Álvaro Gallego, who has been involved in all of Moura’s studio albums to date.
MOURA
Fume santo de loureiro
TRACK-LIST:
1. Intro
2. Agoiro / Pranto
3. Contra os males de aireada
4. Canto de Berce
RELEASE:
May 31, 2024
MOURA live:
June 22 – A Coruña (Spain)
August 31 – Vigo @ The Wild Festival
Moura:
Belém Tajes: vocals, percussion
Diego Veiga: vocals, electric guitar, percussion
Fernando Vilaboy: hammond, mellotron, synths, percussion, vocals
Hugo Santeiro: electric guitar, acoustic guitar, percussion, vocals
Brais do Rei: drums, percussion
Pedro Alberte Aguado: bass
Band photo by Leo López.
Tags: A Coruña, Fume Santo de Loureiro, Moura, Moura Fume Santo de Loureiro, Spain, Spinda Records
