“As Berlengas (Part 1)” is the advanced theme of Benjamim’s next record “As Berlengas” scheduled for release on April 5th by Discos Submarinos.
This instrumental, which opens the album, navigates between rocks, islets and island landscapes, led by Benjamim’s piano that starts alone and travels through electronic sound environments that give it the psychedelic tones that mark the entire album.
AS BERLENGAS is an ambitious multidisciplinary work by musician Benjamim that takes shape in 3 dimensions: an album, a film and a show.
The beginning of the project dates back to 2017 in the form of a conceptual idea, which took shape over the years.
First, the music was born, initially thought of as a soundtrack for a film that didn’t exist… until it did. At the end of 2022, Benjamim challenged director Bruno Ferreira to sign a film inspired by the musical landscape he had created. This film, shot at the beginning of 2023, opened the door to a new concept, a ballet film, with images captured in the archipelago that gives the project its name. Using instrumental pieces, sound collages and songs in lament format, fragments of memories come together to create a story set in an invented archipelago, through dance and sound.
“Involved in a limbo between loneliness and death, the music of As Berlengas seeks light and redemption from an invented mental space, a fantasy construction based on images of the archipelago that I had never visited – an exercise in escapism that ends up taking epic proportions in terms of size, shape and ambition.”
Benjamim
In February and March, we can count on the release of two more singles, on the first Friday of each month, which will take us out to sea on this journey to Benjamin’s archipelago, destined for the 5th of April.
- Video made by Bruno Ferreira
- Excerpt adapted from the film “As Berlengas”
- With João Reis Moreira
- Benjamim played piano, drums, bass, MPC, modular synthesizer, Arturia MicroFreak and Akai S6000
- A Discos Submarinos production, Força de Produção and Casper Films
- Directed by Bruno Ferreira
- Choreography – João Reis Moreira
- Director of Photography – Manuel Pinho Braga
- Steady Cam Operator – César Rocha
- 1st Image Assistant – Daniel Ferreira
- Editing – Hugo Alves
- Grading – Manuel Pinho Braga
- Producer – Marta Mancelos
- Pilot, Sailor and Patron Saint – Pedro Jorge
- Production Assistant and Scene Photography – Catarina Portugal
- Catering – João Baião and João Augusto
- Costumes – Constança Entrudo
“As Berlengas” is an original idea by Benjamim, shared and developed with Bruno Ferreira and João Reis Moreira and has the participation of Beatriz Soares, Carolina Varela, Fabiana Injai, Leonor Carneiro, Marco Tavares, Pedro Batalha.
- Music recorded and produced by Benjamim, with assistance from Moritz Kerschbaumer
- Recorded at Submarino, in Alvito and in hotel rooms.
- Piano recorded at Namouche by Moritz Kerschbaumer
- Mixed by Benjamin in Mantis
- Mastered by Tiago de Sousa
- Artwork by Pedro Cortesão Monteiro
This recording was made possible with the support of the Cultural Fund of the Portuguese Society of Authors and the GDA Foundation. Support for filming: Peniche City Council and Herdade do Esporão.
Thanks: Rui Venâncio (Peniche City Council) Friends of Berlenga, João Hugobaldo, Alexandre Jorge, Salomé Machado, Edmundo, Diana Rocha, Nuno Gonçalo, Zentral Media, Miguel Silva and Patrícia.
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