Portugal

Born between Porto (home of singer Melissa Veras) and Lisbon (where producer David Francisco lives), this Portugese duo have been also connecting distant inspirations whether you think about geography, time, or music genres.

There’s something of the classic 4AD atmosphere in their works, and there’s a little chance fans of Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, The Cure would miss opportunity to see them live. But at the same time, (( ASA )) is an example of those modern post-post-rock bands who are defined by a certain “vibe” rather than particular style or instruments they use.

Accompanied by a picturesque video shot in Switzerland, “Hidden in the Forest” is just one of 12 enchanting tracks included on their debut album, “Closer”, which you can stream in its entirety here.

(( ASA )) on Bandcamp, Facebook.

Guitar and viola, fado and one of the most unique voices in the Portugese scene. Aldina Duarte’s double album “Romance(s)” was withouth doubt one of the highlights of 2015, an elegant record that brought new light into the beloved genre.

A result of many meetings – and Aldina’s collaboration with the poet Maria do Rosário Pedreira – the record itself is a story about a love triangle, playing with drama, stereotypes and far from obvious plots we usually get in romance(s).

This intense album certainly deserves to be heard in its entirety, but you could start with “Dois Ponteiros” and make your next stop at “A Maçã de Adão“.

Aldina Duarte on Facebook.

Born in the capital of Angola, Luanda, the composer and singer Aline Frazão has been living in Lisbon for the last ten years. But she recorded her latest album in Scotland, as if she wanted to add even more colours to her already picturesque music.

Titled “Insular”, Aline’s third album with original material came out at the end of the last year in Portugal and Angola, but this March it finally sees its international release.

The eponymous song off the album, “Insular” starts quietly, but it grows musically and emotionally with every new bar. Aline adds every sound with such sensibility though that it makes you pay attention to every word she sings. And ones she does not.

Aline Frazão on Soundcloud, YouTube, Facebook, www.

You really can’t avoid words like “magical” or “dreamy” when talking about this Lisbon-based project, and “hauntological” is another adjective they certainly hear regularly. But that’s just a starting point for Beautify Junkyards in their search for their very own sound.

Two years after their acclaimed debut album filled with covers of legends like Vashti Bunyan, Nick Drake, and… Kraftwerk, last year they finally collected their own original material on the record called “The Beast Shouted Love”.

While we strongly encourage you to stream the whole album, “Pés na Areia na Terra do Sol” was one of those little gems that made us feel the magic.

Beautify Junkyards on Facebook, Bandcamp.

Filmed in Alvito in south Portugal, “Os teus passos” is one of those clips that make you want to pack up immediately, get onto a plane, and go to see all those sunny streets, smile back to the bartenders, and join the dancing kids.

Having come back from London to his home country a couple of years ago, Benjamin has been working on new music and gave us this memorable single on the eve of the last year’s Spring.

As trees are getting back their leaves again, it seems like a perfect moment to revisit Alvito. All packed up already?

Benjamim on Bandcamp, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram.

“It’s a song about finding your soul-mate but, for whatever reason, the universe deciding it isn’t meant to be,” Best Youth told us about this great single off their new album, “Highway Moon”.

It turned out to be one of the best Portugese releases of 2015 with a number of tracks deserving a mention here. But with “Red Diamond”, Ed Rocha Gonçalves and Catarina Salinas prepared us for the change of their sound, more synth-oriented than previously, and persuaded us we can trust them.

“Red diamonds are, apparently, the rarest minerals on earth,” Ed told us. Oh yes they are.

Best Youth on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, www.

Last September Buraka Som Sistema co-founder Branko released his new LP, “Atlas”, via his label Enchufada. A few weeks earlier, he gave us two great tracks off that album, “Eventually” and “Let Me Go”, each one featuring special guests.

The latter one was recorded in South Africa, where Branko teamed up with a rising local singer Nonku Phiri and an LA-based producer Mr. Carmack.

As you could expect from such transatlantic partnership, it constantly rotates between local and global influences which is only highlighted by the fact that Nonku’s decided to mix vocals in Venda and English.

Branko on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube.

Maybe not as spectacular as her 2014 hit video “Come Closer“, Catarina Miranda’s “Amory” is a charming song in 3/4 and only one of a dozen great tracks you’ll find on her proper debut album, “Navia“.

The 25-year-old from Vila Real has written and performed this record almost all by herself, showing how talented and mature artist she has already become. And how much more we can expect from here in future.

“I remember you said the eyes can catch a soul but never a heart, but you caught my heart, Amory,” she sings. Let us be honest too and confess: you caught our hearts, emmy.

emmy Curl on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Facebook, www.

In February last year, the Porto/Lisbon-based quintet Equations released their second full-length album, “Hightower”, via Lovers & Lollypops label.

it was an impressive 50-minut trip through all kinds of rock – progressive, math, alternative – as well as a concept-album reflecting what the band’s been into over the last two years.

While it’s certainly worth checking out the whole thing, you can start with “Echoing Green”, which was the single off of the record and one of its highlights.

Equations on Bandcamp, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter.

Glockenwise’s new album “HEAT” reminded us that rock’n’roll will never get old if young people like them find guitars more attractive than laptops, at least as far as making music is concerned.

Contrary to their third record’s title, the Barcelos-based quartet seemed to get a bit darker this time. But if you ask them about it, they would seem as much surprised where their instruments took them as their fans are. They don’t plan, they don’t calculate, but just follow their instincts.

The eponymous single off this record, “Heat” is still one of the most upbeat songs off the album, and a sufficient reason to book a ticket for their next show in your neighbourhood.

Glockenwise on Facebook, Twitter.

The first single off the Portugese singer and guitarist Joana Barra Vaz’s new album, “Mergulho em Loba”, has accompanied us since the last Summer. After all these months, we still can’t stop listening to it and, when alone, singing along.

Featuring cello, trombone, and trumpet, “Tanto Faz” (“Whatever”) is a great example of the complexity of Joana’s works, but also sheer fun she’s been giving us through her vivid music. And in this beautiful single, she’s accompanied by soulful singer Selma Uamusse.

A perfect musical dialogue, a little bit of humming lurking in the background, a song we’ll probably keep on repeat at least until the next year.

Joana Barra Vaz on Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, www.

Márcia’s recorded her third album, “Quarto crescente” (Crescent Moon), in Lisbon and Rio de Janeiro in the company of Brazilian musician and producer Dadi Carvalho.

“A Insatisfação” was the first single off the record, and a song that became one of Portugal’s hymns of the Summer. Just like in the video, ideal to take on a car ride, onto the beach, or make it the background for your meeting with the loved one.

As it often happens, it’s one of those inconspicious gems you’ll find yourself listening to again and again.

Márcia on Facebook, YouTube.

For many listeners 2015 was the year of Luis Clara Gomes a.k.a. Moullinex, as he celebrated 80s beats and whatever makes you dance on his superb new album, “Elsewhere”.

The first single off, “Take a Chance”, quickly amassed a kind of cult following as well as an impressive number of views. And the lovely absurdity of the accompanying video clip certainly did not harm.

Whether you detect some French house inspirations or maybe a shade of German club music, Moullinex has developed his very own sound becoming one of the big party makers not only for the Portugese audiences.

Moullinex on Soundcloud, Twitter, Facebook, www.

One of the very first Portugese artists we presented on beehype, David Santos has been keeping us amused with the quality of his music every time he shares something new – which is all to rare.

This recent video is a great example of his songwriting talents, as well as his rich sound that he’s able to achieve just by his own – famously playing even 15 different instruments on stage, and up to 80 in the studio.

If you like this track as much as we do, be sure to check out noiserv’s live performance of this great song accompanied by a very special video.

noiserv on Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp, www.

For a few years now, the Lisbon-based sisters Julia and Maria Reis have been succesfully combining the dreamy atmosphere of indie pop with shoegaze’y guitar noise.

But in the case of “Estrada”, a powerful single taken off their new full-length album titled “Alfarroba”, Pega Monstro (Catch the Monster) deciced to separate a bit both of those things.

So while the first half of the song is decicated to all melody-lovers, they let their psycho factor out in the second part. You could never get bored with those two.

Pega Monstro on Bandcamp, Facebook, Twitter.

This cheerful Barreiro-based group are a Portugese emanation of the joy you can get when playing rock music with people you can communicate without using words.

In the late October the trio of Claudio Fernandes, Bruno Afonso and Ernesto Vitali released a new video called “Sal Mão”, which is fun to listen and even more fun to watch.

A perfect wake-up song for a morning, it’s as captivating as Pista’s justly hyped 2014 single “Puxa“, and possibly even more catchy.

Pista on Bandcamp, YouTube, Facebook.

Sense of humour, musical imagination and deep trust that his audience will follow him wherever he goes is what let Paulo Zé Pimenta make one of 2015’s most unique albums.

On “Mensagens da Nave-Mãe”, the Porto-based artist shows there’s no music genre he would keep out of his sound mixture – as long as it makes you dance to it.

The remarkable single “Neura” showed that PZ needs no more than two minutes to achieve this result, though this song was probably among the most-repeated tracks of the last year. And a great video by Alexandre Azinheira was more than just a nice bonus.

PZ on Soundcloud, Facebook, YouTube, www.

After almost four years Portugese quartet Salto finally recorded a follow-up to their self-titled debut album, and “Lagostas” was an early appetizer published a few weeks ahead of the big premiere.

Accompanied by an unpredictable video directed by Luís Montenegro, the song showed us the Porto-based has been collecting new ideas after the release of their previous EP, “Beat Oven”, and this research included intense touring.

As if inspired both by their studio and stage experiences, “Lagostas” combines danceability and catchiness with the freedom of jamming live.

Salto on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, www.