Critic's evaluation
A new name appears on the national music scene at the beginning of the first quarter of the year. Hailing from Campinas (SP), the duo Arcas launches itself onto the global music market with its debut EP. Entitled Princípio Da Incerteza, the material comes shortly after the announcement of two of their singles.
Your awakening is lively, cheerful and contagious. With Lucas Duarte's guitar, which draws a sharp riff capable of standing out against the introductory melody, the song manages to exude an atmosphere of laziness just like when you're on vacation and upside down. Cesar Eguchi's drumming is in tune with this carefree softness, while helping to build a freshness that brings with it lightness and the absence of worry. It's not necessarily that there's a beachy feel to the sound, because what the sea and the sand bring is a simple disconnection from everything that takes you away from the ecstasy of well-being. And these qualities are well summarized in Caixilhos. With a strident body provided by the groove of the bass in the rhythmic base, the song brings a lovely mix between indie rock and soft rock, while Raul Cescato, with his deep timbre, inserts a new texture in the midst of the intoxicating softness of the sound. The curious thing is that, despite this contagiously light and cheerful ambience, Caixilhos is a song that presents an individual frustrated with life and with himself. He has the ideal of starting over, but apparently doesn't have the courage to do so. Finding it hard to see the opportunities that have passed him by, this same character surrenders to fate as a way of letting life happen, even though he remains in the fate of understanding what hasn't happened.
In the background, the sound of the sea appears like a natural silence, the sound of nothingness. A hum that calms, but also intoxicates. Together with him, Cescato transforms the introductory ambience into a typical beach freshness, whose embryonic touch of reggae makes the song exude an aesthetic familiarity with songs by both Chimarruts and Natiruts. Contagious in its softness like a setting sun on a summer's afternoon, À Deriva has a surprising harmonic crescendo, when Luís Fernando do Nascimento's trumpet and trombone come in to give the melody more acidity and warmth. Even so, there is a latent melancholy in the essence of the composition that not even the brass can overshadow. A melancholy that symbolizes the guiding feeling at the heart of the lyrical character. Someone lost in life, without direction. Someone who, like the one in Caixilhos, is frustrated by unfulfilled plans, but who remains steadfast on the road of life. After all, in the words of the protagonist himself, “a vida é cheia de aventuras que você não sabe onde vai chegar”.
The sun is reenergizing the horizon with its mystical dawn and crepuscular hues. There is no gloom, just the contagion of daybreak with its fresh and motivating atmosphere. At first, the introductory melody favors this imagery, while a beach pop begins to dominate the melodic scope. The drums are more precise and rhythmic, and the rhythm becomes more marked in its structure, while its apparent rigidity appears only as an artifice to add more touches of awareness in the context of transcendental and intoxicating refinements. With an acid dive flirting with stoner rock, Perseverar has dramatic melodic verses and others that present a rhythmic break that lifts its narrative. This happens when, in the bridge, Rike, coming from the band NDK as a guest, inserts rap into the dialog, providing a more urban fluidity, but also more rhythmic and curiously inviting. Perseverar seems, at first, to be about a lover's quarrel and, therefore, about a character seeking to overcome heartache. But in fact, the song, as its name suggests, has a broad context in which persevering applies to all experiences of the art of life. In order to do this, Arcas teaches the listener to have emotional balance so that they can stay focused on the day-to-day process of having resilience, disposition, self-confidence, empowerment and faith. Discipline. The intelligence to know what to take in and what to discard. The wisdom to identify those who want to motivate and those who want to boycott. Persevere is a lesson in how to lead your life. A piece that, due to its lyrical-melodic context, undoubtedly earns the title of the best and most important song from Pricípio Da Incerteza.
It's true that the material is short. After all, it's just over 13 minutes long. However, in this fraction of time, Arcas, through Princípio Da Incerteza, has brought together three dialogues that move between torpor, melancholy, manipulative joy and perseverance. That's why his debut material can be symbolized as a motivator to trust the wisdom of fate.
With well-crafted melodies and harmonies, the EP manages to make the listener move between indie rock, pop, reggae and soft rock, but, sensorially, between softness, drama and energetic equalization. And this achievement is mainly due to the work of Alexandre Chapola, who was in charge of mixing and production.
Through the professional, the sound became mature, clean and clear. Understandable to all ears. The timbres used to bring the dialogues to life were completely audible even in the lyrical divisions and the bass, an instrument that is not always noticed, was always there, striking and indispensable in building the body of each of the chapters.
Rounding off the technical scope is the cover artwork. Also by Duarte, it features a photograph of the two members positioned on different sides of a window, providing a direct reference to the opener of Princípio Da Incerteza. Almost as if it were abusing the negative tone of the colors, the image is as if past and future were talking to each other through the transparency of the window glass. Also exploring the speed at which light is captured, this same interpretation gains strength when we see the visual overlays of the musicians, suggesting, in a concrete way, the idea of temporal transition.
Released on 03/03/2024, in an independent way Princípio Da Incerteza is a short EP, but strong in its messages. Through light, swinging and contagious melodies, it invites and forces the listener to understand that there is no manual for how to live and to accept fate. Even if there are unpleasant situations that make your emotional balance waver, the main message left by the EP is, as Cescato says: don't let yourself be knocked down.
