The Lisbon band Contraluz has just released BATEQUEBRAFURA, their second album, accompanied by the release of the new single “Ontem-Agora” and the respective music video, directed by them.
The new work signals a turning point in the band’s trajectory, which here delves deeper into their sound and lyrical universe, in a record where rock meets indie melodies and touches of funk, without losing a critical eye for the present.
Composed of Pedro Verdelho, João Francisco Pinto, António Rolo, Hugo Pereira and Vasco Guerlixa, the collective continues a collaboration that has spanned over 15 years of musical complicity, formalised with the release of their debut album, Onze, in 2022. Now, in BATEQUEBRAFURA, Contraluz presents a more mature and forceful proposal, where music assumes itself as a force in motion, like water that, hitting a rock, ends up breaking and piercing it.
The album starts from a state that oscillates between absurdity and exhaustion, between collapse and hope. The band’s approach is admittedly forceful and restless, but never cynical. Even in the face of a world in combustion, life persists — and with it, the possibility of action, resistance and transformation. This is the impulse that runs through BATEQUEBRAFURA, in an encounter between light and shadow, between the weight of the present and the desire for the future.
The new single, “Ontem-Agora”, stands out as one of the most sensitive compositions on the album and follows “Pedra Mole em Água Dura”, the first track released in advance. Supported by delicate melodies and a guitar line that highlights the band’s identity, the song proposes a reflection on the past and its impact on the present. “Ontem-Agora” is a song about nostalgia, but also about overcoming — an acknowledgement of wounds as part of the journey.
The lyrics, written by Pedro Verdelho, carry an emotional charge that takes shape in a music video built around the band’s own experiences. Images from childhood, adolescence and adulthood make up the visual narrative, highlighting growth and acceptance of differences as an integral part of the human journey. As the song suggests, the future is only known from the past, which is important to embrace, but not idolise.
Formed in Lisbon, Contraluz has been establishing itself on the independent circuit with a musical proposal that lives in paradox: between energy and contemplation, between criticism and beauty, between the urgency of rock and the subtlety of more expansive harmonies. BATEQUEBRAFURA is the latest affirmation of this identity — music that hits, breaks and leaves its mark.
The album and single are now available on all digital platforms.
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