Baco Doente’s latest single “Beleza Estranha” brings out the beautifully strange with a new nostalgia
Paying homage to post-punk and garage rock, Baco Doente’s latest single “Beleza Estranha” out July 24, is a profound mix of hard-hitting noise and gritty guitar
Founded by Walner Del’Duca and Frederico Arruda, Baco Doente emerged in Juiz de Fora, Brazil in 2018. Their self-titled debut album was released in 2019 by Pug Records, featuring eight songs wrapped in an eccentric, nocturnal curtain. The album is an exploration of noise rock experimentalism, post-punk existentialism, grunge riffs, and the timbres and harmonies of the most infamous bands from the ‘60s.
After their 2021 EP release, Love is Purple—an ode to the decadence of psychedelic flower power—their forthcoming second album, Amarelo Ocre, is due to be released in 2025. This piece marks a turning point in the band’s sound. While maintaining their initial influences and energy, the album draws on tropical references, using Portuguese as the primary language for the compositions and incorporating typical chords, arrangements, and rhythms of Brazilian music.
"Beleza Estranha," written by Walner Del'Duca, is the album's second single, scheduled for release on July 24th. The song is an homage to ultra-romanticism, the Brazilian literary movement that emerged between 1853 and 1869, powerfully expressing feelings of profound pessimism, melancholy, excessive suffering, and the idealization of love. It kicks off with a swift, punchy post-punk tone, with a scrappy, yet familiar sound, conceptually unique and driving. The track creates a lyrical self that views life's small fragments through a contemplative vision that reveals a strangely beautiful horizon—a sweet, melancholic sentimentality, connected to the shared experience of human existence.
Compositions: Walner Del'Duca
Vocals: Walner Del'Duca, Frederico Arruda, Giovana Ribeiro
Guitars: Everton Surerus, Frederico Arruda, Walner Del'Duca, Pedro Tavares, and Diogo Assis
Bass: Pedro Tavares
Drums: Max Souza
Sound Engineering: Everton Surerus
Production: Everton Surerus and Martin Scian
Mix and Master: Martin Scian
Cover Photography: Frederico Arruda
Cover Art Direction: Ana Gouveia, Isabela Castro, and Walner Del'Duca
Art Models: Starly Lou Riggs and Léo Fazio
Recorded at Canil Recs, 2022-2024
