Big Tip! 2024 stock. 200 copies, white vinyl. There’s something familiar in the sounds that harp player Angélica Salvi creates. In her previous record, “Phantone”, it was easy to get lost in the idea of nostalgia / past that could be listened coming from her harp. For “Habitat”, her second record, the approach is tremendously different. She doesn’t linger in the past, she expects you to fulfill the present side-by-side with her. The idea was to create music that could be played and processed in real time. It is also the first time Angélica Salvi is working around the idea of songs – instead of pieces – and elaborating on narratives that suit that purpose. 

Recorded in May on her own studio – Garagem 16 -, “Habitat” is contemporary music with the essence of pop. Angélica doesn’t exactly try a genre approach, her music is freer of restrains and shows her freedom of thinking music as a musician but also as someone that has been working on film and constantly shows her creations more in the essence of sound than exactly music per se. The sounds of “Habitat”, since the first seconds of “Nan”, the opening song, are ethereal and melody focused, even if sometimes those melodies chase paths that are somehow labyrinthic.That doesn’t mean that the listener gets lost. There’s always a guiding light. The choice for a more direct approach on this recording proves how clear, enlightened, and focused Angélica Salvi’s sounds is.

There’s no tricks. Just something that sounds real, profound, where you can listen to Angélica’s hands moving and touching the strings. And be completely mesmerized as she continues to pursue melodies that guides the listener to the most beautiful of places.  André Santos 

Angélica Vázquez is a harp player from Spain currently based in Oporto, Portugal.