WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE:

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

For the latest release in their ongoing ‘International’ series, Into The Light Records takes us to Sydney and the dreamy, softly spun musical world of talented multi-instrumentalist Max Santilli.

“Surface” is Santilli’s debut album following years spent working alongside Jacob Fugar in Ken Oath Records-signed downtempo duo Angophora. It draws on a personal archive of home recordings made between 2016 and 2018 using a range of guitars, synthesizers and acoustic percussion instruments.

As you’d perhaps expect, it’s an intimate and hugely personal set that wraps drowsy, slowly shifting musical flourishes around gentle, sun-kissed rhythms and suitably spacey chords. Santilli offers subtle nods towards his various inspirations – think the mesmerizing ambient-jazz fusion of Michael Bierylo, Steve Hillage’s timeless early ambient works and the intricate acoustic guitar playing of Steve Tibbetts and Miguel Herrero – while forging his own distinctly lo-fi and otherworldly path. As a result, “Surface” is an album of impressive depth and diversity, held together by Santilli’s reflective, emotion-rich vision.

WHAT THE VINYL LOOKS LIKE:

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

For decades, any sound system worth their salt, headed to the dub cutters to get a piece of the “ Late Night Blues” riddim. Acetate after acetate of the riddim rumbled through speakers from Brixton to the Bronx making it a certified sound system classic. Now, Pressure Sounds comes with four exclusive cuts of the Late Night Blues rhythm. The first 2 cuts combines Diggory Kenrick’s always-in-demand flute with the legendary Matic Horns on Side A. The flipside takes the riddim into deep, dubbed-out territory with two dangerous cuts. A welcome addition to the Late Night cult!

WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE:

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

This album was recorded in a 48 hour period between Friday, 9/13/19 and Sunday 9/15/19. It was released on the evening of the 15th. This all came together due to a bout of loneliness and depression that swept over me that Friday evening. Being lonely sometimes can render positive results, something I am learning. On my walk home, I decided to go and make a guitar-based record and not leave the house until it was done. I succeeded and this is what was made. This is not a one-off experiment, that will disappear a few weeks from now: This is my fifth solo full-length record. It is "canon", to quote film nerds. I hope you enjoy it and appreciate the context of its creation. Context they say that's everything these days...

Part of the proceeds during this first digital run will be donated to the Honnold Foundation, an honorable group trying to spread what is our solar-powered future. More about them here: www.honnoldfoundation.org

Credits:

Recorded, Mixed, & Mastered in a 48hr sprint by SCP.
Vintage Fender Jazzmaster & Jaguar were the primary guitars used.
Album cover is a painting by me titled "The Black & Gold Door" and hangs in my dining room.

WHAT THE COVER LOOKS LIKE:

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

Deconstructed, long cycles of ‘ii – V – I’ harmonic progressions are a base for this slowly evolving pointillist piece for guitar, upright piano, granular processing and tape loops.

It is about being aware of personal tensions and once they’re faced, following them into the change they bring.

Picture taken in Saman, France 2019.

WHAT THE PRESS RELEASE SAYS:

A completely unique and beautiful album from contemporary Brazil blending soft pop, indie folk, sixties psychedelia, lo-fi and flavors of the brazilian Clube da Esquina!

- First ever vinyl release of this top album out of contemporary Brazil
- Essential solo effort from former member of Brazilian underground leaders Diesel, Udora and Transmissor
- Analog recording process
- 180g heavy vinyl, comes with download card

Leonardo Marques makes a kind of music that creates bucolic and romantic scenarios whose sound goes among indie folk, sixties psychedelia, lo-fi and the brazilian Clube da Esquina.

As Chicago’s Dusty Groove tell us about the album:
“A really beautiful album from contemporary Brazil – but one that resonates with some of the best soft pop elements of the late 60s and early 70s! Vocals are in English and Portuguese, and the instrumentation is this fantastic blend of light elements given a really airy spin – almost as if Nick DeCaro and Sean O'Hagan got together in the studio to work on a set that has slight bossa inspirations – but is something completely unique! This is the first we've ever heard of Leonardo Marques, but we'll sure be watching out for him in the future – as he's got this way of embracing so many elements of things we love, yet never stays slavishly in their own territory – wending his way beautifully through songs that include "Ainda E Cedo", "All The Hearts", "Nao Te Escuto", "The Girl From Bainema", "Um Sopro", "In Your Arms", and "So Que Me Enfeita".”

Credits

Produced, recorded, mixed by Leonardo Marques at Studio Ilha do Corvo in Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais - Brazil
Mastered by Anderson Guerra at Bunker Analog
Leonardo Marques - Vocals, Acoustic guitar, Bass, Piano, Rhodes Piano, Mellotron, Optigan, Percussion
Rodrigo Garcia - Cello
Tiago Eiras - Drums on tracks 3,4,5,9
Pedro Hamdan - Drums on tracks 2,7,8
Felipe D’Angelo -Piano on tracks 7,8
Joao Machala - Trombone on track 6

All lyrics and compositions by Leonardo Marques except tracks 3 and 4 lyrics by Thiago Corrêa.

Cover photograph by Luiza Ananias.
Back cover photograph by Azevedo Lobo and Teago Oliveira.
Album design by Azevedo Lobo.