Dora Morelenbaum, hailing from a legendary Brazilian musical dynasty and a prominent voice in the band Bala Desejo, is back with her first solo album, Pique. In this new work, the artist dives into a unique sonic and visual universe, exploring the risography and challenging the conventions of the music industry.
In Pique, Dora seeks an authentic identity, far from strategically constructed personas. “I didn’t want to create a persona for this album. Pique is me in this story, of an already built identity that is portrayed in the project.” This search for authenticity is reflected on what technique they used in the project. “This defines a language, when you limit the tools you’re going to use and how you use them. In this sense, it already gives the album a unity”, says Dora.
The music video for the song “A Melhor Saída” (The Best Way Out), written by Tom Veloso, is a perfect example of this approach. The director Maria Cau Levy explains: “There’s something in the production of the music about exploring textures, common places with new places. I wanted to experiment with risography photography, which is a way of treating an image in a specific color. It’s not a material that’s been heavily post-produced, it’s a very pre-produced material.” The risography technique, which uses an inked matrix to print on paper, gives the video a unique and artisanal aesthetic, contrasting with digital perfection.
The collaboration between Dora, Cau, and co-director Caio Mazilli resulted in a work that values the creative process and experimentation. “Everything we do in contemporary times will always reference something that has already happened, whether in a relationship of opposition or mutualism, irreverence and respect,” they say.
Pique is an invitation to a unique sensory experience that combines the tradition of Brazilian music with the innovations of the contemporary world. By exploring risography and other analog techniques, Dora Morelenbaum demonstrates her versatility as an artist and reaffirms her position as one of the up-and-coming voices of the new generation of Brazilian music.
