goncalo penas: ego de espinhos

Continuing Subtext's exploratory electronics and devastating sonics is the expansive Ego De Espinhos, the debut full-length from 22-year-old Porto, Portugal-based artist Gonçalo Penas. Described by Penas as a series of "self-exorcisms", Ego De Espinhos is the cathartic outcome of a highly introspective process. Shaped by opposing forces and instincts, the LP touches on themes that are at once intimate, yet omnipresent. Splendor confronts destruction; id confronts super-ego. Created solely with digital instruments designed and built by the artist, Ego De Espinhos is the result of Penas's improvisations. Tracks such as "Introdução, Umbigo" and "Tecto Falso" were recorded in one take, and evidence a stark, dramatic emotional palette. The release begins as Penas chooses to reject rigidities, customs, and conventions of experimental electronic music. Of his process, Penas says: "Personally, I feel that creation should come from a completely free act of will. It is a place where there should be no rules, no expectations, no rights and no wrongs." In Ego De Espinhos, Penas turns away from his own technical background, and towards a journey of forward experimentation. This follows his education in Music Production and Technologies at Porto's School of Music and Performing Arts. For the first time, he finds the freedom to articulate himself sincerely, unearthing beauty and acceptance amidst wreckage and devastation.