Electronic soul, jazz and resilience. D'Agua Negra are led by a trio of vocalists from Brazil's Amazonian city Manaus and in Erógena, they release their first EP bringing attention to both the transformative power of art, and Manaus, an unlikely origin for Brazilian soul music

D'Agua Negra's introduction to the world comes in the shape of Acopalices(Apocalypse), which is taken from their breakout EP Erógena set for release on 23rd November via Amplifica Records.

The band's first adventure and recording together is a direct expression and response to the Covid chaos that broke out in their home city of Manaus in 2020. Having initially come together prior to the awful developments of the virus in their city (which were screened around the world) the three singers Clariana Brandão Arruda, Bruno Barrozo Belchior and Melka, like everyone else, went indoors and had little contact with each other.

Bruno goes on to explain what happened next, "I opened the pores, undid the knots, painted my face and reinvented myself…I had no time to succumb to the loneliness and desperation". The track name refers to a meme that went viral in Brazil during the pandemic about Manaus. As always, Brazil offered a humorous take on tragic circumstances and D'Agua Negra tapped into that and a myriad of emotional connections to their personal and isolated journeys in recent times.

Stuck to the painful images she had seen, Melka was alone, in her apartment, surrounded only by cats and plants, and she began to write Acopalices. "It was during moments of reflection that I closed my eyes and saw 3 suns. I never imagined that I would be part of this group, but I felt, at that moment, a desire to have more life because one sun alone was not being able, at that time, to supply all the needs," she says.

Unlike their contemporaries and the wealth of new music in Brazil, D'Agua Negra come from Manaus, a city set deep in the Amazon in north Brazil and not Sao Paulo and Rio De Janeiro. Manaus is a city with a magical black river running through it that the band decided held such significance; they would name their band after it.

The new EP features a recognisable array of black music forms and obvious references like D'Angelo, the original Brazilian funkster Tim Maia shine as well as the groups love for breakbeat and hip hop.