MNTH – Silente Esplendor: A Sounds & Colours album premiere

At Sounds and Colours we are proud to present Silente Esplendor, the fifth album by MNTH (pronounced manteiga) the project of Luciano Valério, a Brazilian musician and co-founder of the Desmonta label. 

Silente Esplendor is a gem of a release in which organically pulsing percussion meshes with living, breathing atmospheres.  Every gesture in the album carries intention — whether through the power of listening or the care taken in placing sounds, textures, rhythms, and silences with clarity and purpose. Conceived both for moments of deep listening and for experiences of movement, transformation, and dance, the album melds genres like drone, ambient, minimalism, expanded percussion, spontaneous improvisation, and other liminal sonic territories. For example, a key track is “teDOR”, seven minutes of ambient drone and rattling percussion that grows into a pulsating piece of expansive kosmiche, reminiscent of a Popol Vuh composition set deep in the Amazon.

The compositions, synthesizer playing, and live sound manipulation is all by Valério However, there are also contributions from Marina Cyrino on processed flute, Mauricio Takara on electronically treated drums and percussion, and Philip Somervell on Noord piano, as well as a remix by Thavius Beck. I spoke to Luciano about the release.

S&C: How do you define “Silente Esplendor” (silent splendour)?

LV: This “great and present silence” can be defined as a fragmented timeline, with breaths and more tense moments, in which the elements sometimes seem to erupt in some more resolved form. Thinking about the album, what is established are freer themes, with these spaces or “breaths” that give me greater freedom. I sought to highlight these silences and find a place where it would rise to a broader idea of ​​sound. Hence the “splendour”.

S&C: What were your main inspirations for this album?

LV: I think the references and inspirations come more from the process and the type of equipment and sound manipulation I have at my disposal than from something directly influenced by a specific artist or a particular period. I’ve been using different equipment than on previous albums, and that contributes a lot to shaping the sound, especially given the limitations I have with some of these machines, forcing me to stop at a starting point for the next step.

Also, I’ve been listening a lot to elements of Guatemalan Mayan culture, such as ceremonial sounds, traditional music based on the marimba, percussion, and wind instruments with an incredible circular rhythm, which has inspired me a lot.

S&C: Describe the recording process for this album with the collaborators.

LV: The first part of the process involved only myself and Marina Cyrino. We went into the studio with technician Felipe Faraco and spent some time exploring timbres and possibilities, along with the processing that Marina already does on her instruments. These were sessions with instruments played, processed, looped, and sampled. The same thing happened later with M. Takara. We returned to the same studio and repeated this process, with the difference that, at this point, there was already a more defined kind of “sound.”

S&C: You collaborate quite a bit with percussionist M. Takara. What do you like about his work?

LV: Mauricio and I have been friends since the 90s, when we played in hardcore bands. Around 2005/2006, we joined forces to create the Desmonta label. In other words, our collaboration goes back a long way.

Mauricio is a musician without equal in the best sense, with a very consistent and focused vision on what he does and where he wants to go. It’s natural that I would invite him whenever possible because of our brotherhood and my admiration. Musically, I still learn a lot from him, especially observing how he approaches sound in a broad and liberated way.

S&C: Was any AI used in the production of this album? 

LV: No. The album was recorded in three stages: two of them in the studio, in a very open way, searching for ideas, sounds, and timbres; and a third stage more focused on production using hardware for processing and composition, before reaching the final editing, mixing, and mastering.

S&C: So, what do you think about the use of AI in music production?

LV: It’s clear that artificial intelligence has reached an irreversible point in several sectors, both in creation and in driving the deconstruction of artisanal and creative traditions, while at the same time very interesting tools are emerging that are already being used to optimize processes that were previously almost impossible, processes that can stimulate creative breakthroughs and open new paths. Thinking about the general context of AI in music production, I have no interest in using it as the central point of creation.

S&C: Why are you releasing this album with a new label, También?

LV: Working with other labels is a way to create a breather between these universes, while strengthening connections with other scenarios and points of view different from those I am most accustomed to. También is a label based in Ecuador with a branch also in Colombia, and they have a very interesting and diverse catalogue with many artists from Latin America.

S&C: Are there any future releases planned for your own label Desmonta? 

LV: Yes. Two days after the release of Silente Esplendor, Desmonta will also release the second album by the musician Rhara. It is a very beautiful and special work, performed solely with different string instruments and flutes. The album is a sensitive tribute to the passing of the artist’s mother to another world. The entire universe of the tracks has a lightness and delicacy, especially in the way the compositions are constructed with a concise use of the instruments.

S&C: What are your plans for the future?

LV: I have some shows scheduled for this year. In some of them I will play solo, and in others I’ll be accompanied by musicians such as Yantra (Douglas Leal, from Deafkids), Philip Somervell, Flávio Lazzarin and Rhara.

For live show proposals contact the production company Artéria ([email protected]) or Desmonta ([email protected]).

(Photograph of MNTH courtesy of Amanda Moraes)

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