- Violet returns to Naive, and to the dance floor.
- Lisbon's Violet, AKA Inês Coutinho, is always so busy helping other artists into the spotlight that a release of her own can feel like a rare treat. After a debut LP on Dark Entries in 2019 of dark, delicate headphone music that rarely approached dance tempos, she's back: to her own label Naive, to more familiar sounds and to the rhythms for movement that she understands so well.
"Espírito" is a 4 AM workhorse, hitting first as a bouncing, bubbling confection before revealing an off-kilter undertone, like a spinning top with a wobble in its orbit. The standout, though, is "Psyche," a reminder of Naive's early reputation as a breaks-heavy label. Its backbone is a stripped-down gesture toward jungle, while the squelchy acid melody shows off Coutinho's equally keen ear for other genres, sounds she's always been thoughtful to showcase lest others box her in. It's a hypnotic head trip that builds to a surprise burst of energy in the final minute.
A remix of the track by Eris Drew finishes off the record, smudging Coutinho's slippery and clean production into a lush, earthy downtempo groove. It's a nice full-circle moment for the two artists' ongoing creative conversation, which began with Drew spinning Coutinho's 2017 track "Togetherness" so often she wore out the vinyl.
Tracklist01. Espírito
02. After Forever
03. Psyche
04. Pscyhe (Eris Drew Remix)