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Arp Frique is back, delivering four dance floor ready cuts in his signature style. 'Minina Bem Li' is loosely inspired by Arp Frique’s Cape Verdean connection through Rotterdam and Americo Brito, echoing the spacey 70s sounds of some of his favorite music. On vocal duties and doing em BIG is Mariseya aka Marissa Nyamekye. Dancefloor flavours with a zouk flow and arpeggiators on blast.
Record of the week W41 by Antal Heitlager
I first got introduced to Arp Frique at the Magia Festival he organized in Rotterdam, a celebration of music based around the ‘Nos Magia’ theme. Arp Frique had the sort of sound that was instantly familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on exactly where I heard it before. I wasn’t even aware of who created this music.
Was this eighties music? Was it released somewhere before? And was that legendary Cape Verdean musician Americo Brito on vocals? I had a lot of questions, so not much later I decided to give Niels Nieuborg aka Arp Frique a call.
Niels then proceeded to tell me the whole Arp Frique story. He had been a booker and event organizer for many years already, making music on the side and recording with a variety of artists of Cape Verdean and Surinamese descent, being deeply rooted in the Rotterdam scene and constantly developing new musical ideas.
I asked him about ‘Nos Magia’, the theme song of the festivaI and a song I was really into. It turned out to be new material, so I asked him if we could release it on Rush Hour. That’s how the first Arp Frique EP on our label came about.
Fast forward to 2020 - Arp Frique has outdone himself yet another time. After the full album that was released in 2018 he now delivers a strong four track EP which again dives into the world of Cape Verdean funana and Caribbean zouk, but this time with a more eighties feel.
Americo Brito is on board once again, as is Marissa Nyamekye, both integral parts of the Arp Frique family. There’s an exciting road ahead of them with loads more great music to share, as exemplified by the strong title track ‘Minina Bem Li’, ‘Mindelo Aoje’ and clubhit ‘Voyage’. (AH)
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