- Now a trio, the Portuguese batida group balance melancholy with rambunctious joy on this moody but percussive LP.
- DJ Narciso and Nuno Beats first appeared on Lisbon label Príncipe as RS Produções back in 2018, debuting a style that was as wounded as it was playful—think a combination of DJ Lycox's romantic kizomba and Nídia's eerie hybrids. Now the crew, who are based out of Rio de Mouro, just outside Lisbon, add third member Farucox for their debut full-length. As usual, Saúde Em 1º Lugar is a mixture of solo and collaboration tracks that highlight common ground—and the importance of community in the Lisbon batida scene—more than they accentuate the differences.
Together and apart, the trio tinker and dismantle the various styles and sub-genres that make up the Príncipe sound. Farucox shines on the excellent "TABA," whose staggered thrust sounds more than a little like gqom. His "Sem Cabeça" is another major highlight, skipping forward as Detroit-style synths add a chilly breeze around it. Narciso and Nuno get in on some UK funky action with "Mitsai," whose unnerving atmosphere and fiberglass percussion underline the uneasiness at the core of the RS Produções sound: this is danceable music, sure, but there's usually something else lingering underneath.
That duo's "Valentine Day's 2K17" is probably the most emo track here—aside from Narciso's opening prayer on "ORAÇÃO," where he plaintively wishes the best for the future—and with its bluesy, pitch-bent guitar licks, sounds like little else in the Príncipe catalogue, smoldering and mournful. (Even Narciso's producer tag, with its nervous laugh, is a little downcast here.) But there's plenty of light, too. Nuno Beats' solo track "Tribal" has a spareness and a clarity that reminds me of early Roska, stiff and rolling at the same time. It could've ended up clunky, but it feels smooth and intuitive.
From its message of hope to its emotional vulnerability, Saúde Em 1º Lugar is, if nothing else, charming. The title means something like "health comes first," a patronizing phrase often used to make light of a bad situation, or alternately to lecture youth for having too much fun. The layers of meaning are reflected across the album, which pulls off genre experimentation with the deceptive depth of its title, rather than overwrought complexity.
Saúde Em 1º Lugar makes use of simple, often chintzy sounds—the repetitive chirps on "ORAÇÃO," the synth horns on slow, seductive "Texx"—that lend the LP an approachable quality. It wouldn't be fair to say it's naive. Maybe pure of heart is a more precise way to describe the album. Marrying the hectic, stumbling-over-itself rhythm of classic batida with goofy samples and elegant melodies, Saúde Em 1º Lugar is yet another wrinkle in this scene's seemingly endless variety of sounds, where close-knit producers come together, adjust the molecules and see what kind of brilliant new compounds they can come up with, each invention coloured by the lived experience of its creators in one of the world's most vibrant dance music communities.
Tracklist01. DJ Narciso - ORAÇÃO
02. Farucox - TABA
03. Nuno Beats - Tribal
04. DJ Narciso - Semana Chata
05. DJ Narciso x Nuno Beats - Mitsai 03:03
06. Farucox - Sem Cabeça
07. DJ Narciso x Nuno Beats - Texx
08. DJ Narciso x Nuno Beats - Valentine's Day 2K17
09. DJ Narciso - ARMADILHA NO T
10. Nuno Beats - PrinCIPES
11. Nuno Beats - Bué de Bass (acapella)
12. DJ Narciso - Bolor
13. Farucox - ESFREGA [Ti Lito]