‘Ninguém Solta A Mão De Ninguém’ takes its title from a phrase widely used during the military dictatorship rule of Brazil in the 1960s, which translates as “hold on tight to each others’ hands”. The army would attempt to suppress student protest movements by switching off all lighting in universities in order to facilitate arrests, which students & professors would resist by linking hands to form human chains.Driven by the overwhelming sentiment of disgust and distrust that has swept Brazil since the country’s most recent presidential elections, Santtana has very carefully sought out his collaborators to create a jolting video which mirrors the track’s lyrics, which decry the ongoing destruction in Amazonian territories, and the marginalisation and oppressive treatment of those including the LGBTQ+ community and racial minorities by Bolsonaro’s intolerant right wing government.
Influenced by the director Patrício Guzmán’s quote, ‘A country without a documentary is like a family without a photo album’, Lucas’ new video curates historical images ranging from military dictatorship archive photos to the latest ‘Midia Ninja’ footage, and recalls what must never be forgotten: our own history. Cutting through the documentary narrative, the video’s directors, alongside the artists, have conceived performances that represent fundamental pillars of civil rights struggles and all the bodies that defy the oppressive order. Jaloo remembers Ailton Krenak’s powerful speech in defence of indigenous rights at the National Constituent Assembly in 1987 & the struggles of Brazil’s indigenous population, true guardians of the Amazonian forest. Elsewhere, Linn da Quebrada opens her arms to welcome and crown all transvestites and transsexuals in her country. The video also features actress Aysha Nascimento, who evokes the power of ancestry, to shine a light on black women’s history.Whilst
‘O céu é velho há muito tempo’ (meaning “The sky has been old for a long time”, and his third release for French label, Nø Førmat) might operate with the gentlest of touches musically, the urgency of Santtana’s cautionary counsel is unmistakeable throughout. Having made a name for himself with a string of richly inventive, polycultural albums suffusing nods to Tropicalia & Bossa Nova with elements of electronica & hip hop, here Santtana pares back his palette to little more than his own voice and a guitar, to unflinchingly zero in on the machinery dictating the political, social & cultural balance of his own country. “We’re living in a time in which everybody is talking loud’ he observes; “I thought the time had come to whisper into people’s ears”.
It’s a sentiment perfectly captured both by the striking cover art for ‘O Céu é velho há muito tempo’
(where the blood red star constellation of the Brazilian flag is met with various symbols of resistance from Shamanism, Hinduism, Social Movements, Afro-Brazilian Religions and the Maya Calendar), and the tribute ‘Ninguém Solta A Mão De Ninguém’ pays to the voices of those who have either been threatened or brutally silenced by their country.Biography
Having played flute in various orchestras in the Brazilian state of Bahia, Lucas Santtana (son of producer Roberto Sant’ana and nephew to pioneering tropicalist artist Tom Zé) made his recording debut in 1993, performing on Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil’s Tropicalia 2 album, continuing to work as a flautist with Gil and on a variety of sessions throughout the 90s. However, at the same time Santtana was learning to play the guitar and writing his own songs in downtime while touring – these songs started to see the light of day through collaborations with Arto Lindsay, Marisa Monte and Daniela Mercury until he released his first solo album, Eletro Ben Dodô, in 2000. It was the start of a cycle of albums that focused on different sounds and textures. That debut was percussive; his second, Parada de Lucas (2003), was electronic, inspired by the nascent baile funk; the third, 3 Sessions In A Greenhouse (2007), was heavily influenced by dub; Sem Nostalgia (2011) was a response to bossa nova, inventively crafting new sounds from just guitar and vocals. His fifth – like its predecessor, released via the Mais Um Disco label championed by Gilles Peterson – The God Who Devastates Also Cures (2012), suggested the start of a new cycle, a synergy of everything that has gone before, and which has continued with the “post-tropicalist” album Sobre Noites E Dias (2014).