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Release: Oct. 28 2022

The young Brazilian producer ELK shows up on Radio Chiguiro with a new EP that concentrates the energies of Fortaleza, his hometown, in a luminous chill baile style.

Fifth largest city in Brazil, Fortaleza is the capital of the state of Ceará in the Nordeste. This industrial and commercial city is home to many artists, such as Mikael Lucas aka ELK, who cooks modern and radiant baile funk from his neighborhood of Mondubim. Like many teenagers of his generation, he observed and absorbed the mutations of carioca funk from the age of 14, before discovering other sub-genres of electronic music, in particular dubstep. The monstrous basses of the king Skrillex were the sparks for Elk who, guided by his curiosity, began to be interested in programs such as FL Studio or Ableton in order to try to create his own dubstep.
Along the way, he immersed in the avant-garde baile funk, listening to producers such as Deekapz, Vhoor, Sango or HVSN. At only 21 years old, the hyperactive ELK shares his creations on Soundcloud and sees his hybrid style gradually taking shape: « I would define my sound as Brazilian Popular Underground Music », he tells us, « but I catch myself mixing house and funk, producing more chilled tunes and sometimes even singing on my songs ».

“My mind is full of ideas and potential innovations, anything can happen!”, he continues enthusiastically. This is indeed what this EP evokes for us: a brilliant compendium of his influences coupled with a naive freshness that we will call « Baile de Fortal », in reference to one of his tracks. It is therefore a tribute to this city « where you can find hidden artists on every street corner » that ELK titles its EP 085, telephone code of Fortaleza. This is the sequel to his previous self- produced EP Madrugadas, which means dawn in French. « For me, dawn is a time for creativity and the birth of ideas in my brain“, he explains.
The single « Luar » (Moonlight) directly echoes the theme chosen by immersing us into a peaceful atmosphere, like a blue hour on the beach. This aetheral vocal sample quickly mixes with the sharp beats of the boy, kicking off a short but intense EP. Right after, the wandering melody of « Copão na Mão » takes us by the hand to a bass-drunk ghetto, before descending quietly, lulled by the restful guitar of « Morro ». Vem bailar! 

Produced and mixed by ELK in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Artwork by David Crocq in Paris, France.

Executive Production by Radio Chiguiro Records.
Co-produced by François Renoncourt aka Crotch Goblin.