Populous - Azulejos (2017)

Under the Populous pseudonym, Andria Mangia has forged a career out of confounding expectations. To date, he's flitted between IDM, ambient, glitch-hop, synth-pop and leftfield electronica, with each successive set offering a new musical perspective. With Azulejos, he's shifted the goalposts further. Inspired in part by a move to Lisbon, it draws on both South American music and the contemporary, bass-heavy "progressive Kuduro" popularized by Bureka Som Sistema. The result is a humid, sweaty and deliciously melodious set full of hybrid musical fusions that bristle with live Latin percussion, lilting synthesizer melodies, heavy analogue basslines and wonderfully evocative Portuguese instrumentation.