Sensible Soccers

Manoel, the fourth LP by the Sensible Soccers, recorded at Arda Recorders and co-produced by the band and João Brandão, is the result of the creation of two new soundtracks for two films by Manoel de Oliveira: “Douro, Faina Fluvial” (1931) and “O Pintor e a Cidade” (1956). The Oliverian Universe and the way the director looked at Porto - his city, so well portrayed in these works - acted as a framework for the rhythm and atmosphere of a series of compositions that will be presented in cine-concert format, in dialogue with the films. This dialogue takes on different forms along the way: sometimes the music walks through the cinema, at its own pace and in its own time, like the wind at its back. At other times it invades, imposing a new reading, like a hostile gale. Memory - this time, that of the city(ies) - is once again a fundamental motto. It is from this series of compositions - some revised, others enlarged, still others transfigured or even unrecognisable - that ‘Manoel’ is born, making its own way beyond the images. The result is 10 songs with very different identities, ranging from ambient to techno, jazz and dub, in a game of alternations - so characteristic of the Sensible Soccers - between light pop and melancholy or experimentalism.