Mucho Flow

Too often we have seen rockers taking the safest road to marketability and witnessing the decline of ethos in sound – this is exactly the way to not describe bbb hairdryer. Their approach to punk rock picks up on the most extreme of punk production and adds more abrasiveness, more decibels, and ton more fury to the mix. The result, recently released on our Revolve label, is a guitar oriented explosion of volumetric sound that doubles down on distortion, demanding the vocals to be always on scream mode and the drums and bass to chase them frantically. Their gigs are often hallucinating, their sound is always piercing in the ears, and the memories become frail. The good part is some traumas remain in the body, and not all of them are bad.

Body Meat has been maturing its recipe for some years now, and with great results. Chris Taylor’s long-awaited debut album is a masterclass of the clinical use one can make of matter and antimatter, and other contrasting elements, to create a harmonious and impactful piece. Starchris depicts Taylor’s ability to create a pop blend that uses as much R&B and trap, as of club production wits and more metal and noise extreme textures. The most surprising of this weirdness is how well it works for us, and how energetic it promises to be live. This is the kind of debut we crave for at Mucho Flow.

In a world of pen drives, streams, fast consumption, and intangibles, Leslie Beesley — better known by her DJ name Chinese Daughter — stands at the very opposite side of the digital playing field. Digger worthy of the name, Beesley plays exclusively on vinyl, pulling from every record and every rotation the purest sound of broken beats and the deep basslines of jungle and classic hardcore. You can start preparing by listening to her sets on Rinse or Balamii, both rightly dedicated to what we most love on a dancefloor: rhythmic hallucinations and bass-induced levitations.Pack lightly, ‘cause jungle is massive.

Colombian Drone Mafia exists at one of those famous intersections that disturb the landscapes of contemporary creation: the one that separates electronics into synthetic sounds and field recordings. In this still largely uncharted territory, Nyksan, the Bogotá-born producer behind CDM, joins forces for a debut EP with Mexican violinist Gibrana Cervantes, blending improvisational languages and electronic contexts to develop textures, timbres, and sub-melodies. Above all, the duo creates sensations and psychic disturbances, something to expect at Mucho Flow. Here, we can say, “Don’t do drugs, kids,” because Colombian Drone Mafia and Gibrana Cervantes already rewire synapses more than enough.

Every year Mucho Flow fills the lineup with surprises, first timers and debuts, and every year we invite Lynce to surprise us. Our symbiotic relationship of exploring the underworld of the dance floor has been developing for over a decade, which means we have been changing together alongside Porto’s finest party-sherpa. Pedro Santos, a representative of the feline rhythms of acid, jungle, and hardcore, is getting ready to deliver, between decks and synths, a hybrid DJ/live set that will leave us instantly nostalgic for what we’ll be experiencing — and eager for another Mucho Flow, another Lynce set in his natural reserve, even if as an invasive species: Guimarães.

A navigator of synthesised ambient tides, Theodora Laird, better known as feeo, is one of the latest additions to the strong catalogue of the London label AD93. After three self-released EPs and collaborations with Lorraine James and Caius Williams, feeo is preparing to launch her debut full-length, where drones and ambiences weave particularly digital landscapes, where analogue grain is replaced by digital cuts and near-cinematic edits. Above all these details floats Laird’s velvety voice, lulling us into a kind of sleep paralysis where we remain awake yet entranced. Another certified Mucho Flow debut.

There’s always a certain expectation that the language of folk, or any form of folklore, should be one of simplicity. Not that it’s true, but there are constraints on acoustic instruments that often favour catchy melodies, perfectly metered lyrics, and rounded messages over complexity. American artist Hannah Frances fits the canon but adds the sophistication folk has gradually been stripped of over the decades: there are unexpected progressions, intricate arrangements, and a life beyond the typical song format in her music. And of course, there’s a powerful voice, harmonies paving the way for moving melodies, and aesthetic motifs that delight both troubadours and their listeners. Let’s sway together in Guimarães,  and Hannah Frances will be our soundtrack.

The best ghetto tech crew around, everything about HiTech’s live shows is a whirlwind. Noble emissaries of the US Rust Belt, this Detroit collective carries the heritage of techno with their hyper-lascivious variations that came from the other side of Lake Michigan. Their ultra-fast tempos and unpredictable kicks are paired with the swagger of ceremony conducting borrowed from hip hop, allowing HiTech to infect the dancefloor, person to person, spreading a viral frenzy. If you lose your head, just remember you still have it between your shoulders or in HiTech’s hands.

A veteran musician and a seasoned collector of diasporas: the duo coming from Baltimore, Maryland, Infinity Knives and Brian Ennals sound exactly like one would expect they would, yet they keep on surprising us, surpassing any label and rendering categories useless. Their latest long play, the third of a collaboration that started in Infinity Knives’ debut five years ago, showcases Infinity Knives wits as a producer, one that carries many migrations, from Tanzania to the USA, under his feet and is thus free to go beyond the obvious hip hop beats for acid rap bursts from Ennals. A City Drowned in God’s Black Tears has beats, of course, but is made of fingerpicking guitars, choirs, doom metal riffs, noise imbued trap beats, woke crunk anthems, rock ballads, and so many different geographies in one single context that identities get diluted in pure sonic bliss. Which is what we want to feel at Mucho Flow.

Moving within the pop universe with unmatched ease, Lauren Duffus draws on a century of songwriting to craft a hyperbolic version of what contemporary mainstream expression can be. The result drinks as much from the joy of R&B as from the drama of trip hop, grounds itself in garage, and creates space with ballads, guiding movement and emotion with a voice layered with effects and intention. Decades of evolution culminate in today’s most exciting pieces, ready to stir up the famous whirlwind of emotions in Guimarães.

No toponymy or naming can fully capture the musical might of the Chuquimia Crampton siblings, who have joined forces to create one of the most important sonic documents of the year. Speaking of deconstruction only makes sense intellectually, given how few references exist to categorise the creative force of Joshua and Chuquimamani-Condori, who compress Bolivian acoustics and tradition with new archetypes of hyper-saturated electronics, crafting an identity document that transcends their pan-American geography. Their music is as full of clubbing potential as it is of hesitant, lascivious Afro-Latin rhythms, or pastoral Americana. This vortex exists in the now, but it represents a temporal anomaly. The tear in the space-time fabric they occupy will be reported in Guimarães, and we’re lucky to witness it. Who knows, one day we might all be studied.

LUXE has been making a name as a DJ, moving through the club scenes of northern English cities and various celebrations of inclusion and diversity, reflecting the full versatility a dancefloor-turned-safe-space can offer. However, her creative side heads in the opposite direction of her club persona, it opens doors to a personality rooted in electroacoustic sound, synthesis, and ambient explorations, with the ease of someone who never stopped crafting sonic habitats. That same comfort is what LUXE brings to her live sets. There’s a space in the sonic frequencies that belongs solely to the British artist, and we’ll be lucky to share it with her during Mucho Flow.

Maki is the leading emerging talent in the 140 realm on this corner of Europe. A spiritual descendant of dub’s third wave, the Lisbon-based DJ goes deep into the floor shattering basses blended with broken rhythms and wobbly synths. Each Maki set defines a deliberate, sculpted tempo worthy of the finest London and Bristol basements, channeling 140bpm spirit guides and painting everything in between with fun and risky bouncy choices. Start exercising your fun muscles now, because you will need it when she’s on the decks.

With a deep knowledge of all things hauntology, Maria Somerville is making her breakthrough statement into pop via her latest Luster, released via 4AD. The new Somerville opus channels shoegazing pop through layers of drone and folk arrangements, over which the Irish singer imposes a spectral, velvety voice. The result is a set of songs that have all the key ingredients of an earworm that moved on to the afterlife and is now inhabiting the plane of spiritual enlightenment. Each song, deeply impacting, is memorable in its own way. We do not want to say this will be the performance you will remember from Mucho Flow, but we are willing to bet that Maria Somerville will be making frequent appearances in everyone’s playlists from 2026 onwards.

There’s something truly topographic about Minna-no-kimochi’s sets, directly tied to the fact that they hail from Tokyo. Constant in rhythm, their accelerated pace makes us see all the neon rainbow colours of Japan’s capital. In less cryptic terms: a torrent of synths, shiny and never and drenched in modulations, lifting beats to regulate heart rates; torrents of layers, ecstatic melodies, and racing tempos, with a narrative plasticity that allows emotional rises and falls. A Minna-no-Kimochi set is non-linear, but always abides to a golden rule: maximum color yields maximum joy.

There’s a not-so-hidden desire for pop to take over every space, stadiums, intimate concert halls, you name it. But the club has always resisted. The way ravers move on to the next sound as soon as pop seems to get it is proof of that. Still, that doesn’t stop club culture from absorbing pop and pulling it into its universe, and Nick Léon’s music is a club-exclusive of flawlessly dressed vocal delights ready to dance, with him as the doorman. Only tasteful pop gets in, and by chance, we’re all on the guest list. On his new album, the Florida-based producer expertly encapsulates all the ingredients of a good song and makes them coexist within the beauty of club culture. Guests include Erika de Casier, Ela Minus, and Xander Amahd for catchy moments, while Léon ventures solo into Latin rhythms and near-maximalist house.

Valedictorian of the XXIII clubbing class, Nóia is the frontrunner of her generation dancefloor agitators coming from Porto. Her approach to the decks and mixers is hyper energetic, incendiary, and near close to hectic, having enabled her to trailblaze way beyond her early days of promoting club nights in Northern Portugal and taking many others along. Her blend of juke, jungle and anything bass-heavy with fast broken beats allowed Nóia to create her own space in Portugal’s club scene that has taken a life of its own in her own Passos Manuel residence Club Nóia, where she curates fiery lineups with a single rule: floor is lava. If you want to get out alive, you might as well have swift feet. And now you know what you should do during her set in Mucho Flow: dance as hard as you can or just float.

For those paying attention, Pedro Melo Alves is yet another reason to believe in the immense talent circulating through Portugal’s jazz and improvisation scenes. For the less attentive, he’s a name that, even in small print on a lineup or in a larger project, leaves an indelible mark on the music created. As a drummer in his own name, he also shines as a bold arranger, a composer for big bands and smaller ensembles, and a solo explorer of textures, capable of turning timbre into melody in the blink of an eye. Whatever he brings in his bag to Guimarães, it’s bound to be memorable.

Cally Statham, aka PLUS44KALIGULA, is picking up on a tradition that is often forgotten, of elevating music to performance art. Her music is as powerful and dramatic as her live performances demand it to be, with set design thought out to the most tiny of details. Layered compositions, with thunderous arrangements and contained beauty, allow for her dynamic vocal performances. PLUS44KALIGULA is, in itself, a project of self-reflection on the human condition, coming up with android aesthetics to a world where our species seems to have its nature on the verge of replacement. Statham comes up as a messenger from both sides, yet one who seeks to ignite something.

Rarely does the concept of electroacoustic music apply as precisely as it does here: factually, Coletivo Raso brings together acoustic elements, in drums, vocals, scenography, and processes them through material electronic realities via synthesis, modulation, light, and video. The result, however, couldn’t be further from what the term usually suggests — a dense wall of sound that piles up in heights and volumes, with a clear but furious outcry. Live, the collective, featuring Ricardo Martins, Jonathan Uliel Saldanha, Carlos A. Correia, Pedro Ribeiro, Diogo Mendes, who make up the live version, and joined by Pedro Bastos, Cláudia Ribeiro, and Susana Bettencourt, is projected into audiovisual dimensions more fitting of an elegant universe than our plain 4D simplicity. We’ll have to make do with the flatland we’ve been given and live through Raso’s hyperbolic descriptions.

With house and electronic music lessons well studied, Sassy 009 represents the best of the Scandinavian school of pop: catchy melodies turned into earworms, brain-lodging harmonic ideas, chest resonating production wits. Through electronic elements and masterful use of atmospheric textures, Sunniva Lindgård creates songs that move even the coldest stone and capture attention far beyond geographical limitations. Already a staple of the pop to be scene, Sassy 009 is not a promise, because she already delivered. We are just getting it now. You can already add her to your playlists, it’s a given.

A crazy combination: Frenchman Simo Cell, a rhythmic master of the dancefloor, with Colombian producer and TraTraTrax label-boss Verraco, a ultra-heavy bass with hot beats crafter of bangers. We can’t predict exactly how this duo will play out in a back-to-back set, but we do know there’ll be rhythmic fireworks, geographical possibilities, low-end frequencies, decays, and arpeggiated chords for every taste. We suggest you keep your long-term memory light, you’ll want to remember this slice of the party.

These New Puritans are not exactly new, but their new long-play has proven they are as contemporary, now, and future-oriented as any artists might aim to become. The Barnett twins created an elaborate set of songs, epically layered with an uncanny mix of acoustic and electronic instruments, allowing their own fashion of art pop to flash straight into the present, and allowing frontman Jack to showcase a deep baritone voice. Like their own art-pop inspirations, These New Puritans surrounded themselves with an impressive lineup of co-conspirators, helping elevate “Crooked Wings” to one of the most impressive set of songs of 2025. And we know together is how we like to see art grow.

There is an underlying identity in Tracey that is as hers as it is contextual and geographical. Ranging from lofi songwriting to clinical folk, or club-infused pop, you can see from a distance the UK cultural melting pot in the slightest of details of her songs. The common denominator from Tracey’s creation is her imposing voice, a beautifully sparse voice, clean yet dynamic, that enables her to sing the most moving of ballads just before pulling the rug with an explosion of subbass grime-influenced beats and explicit lyrical motifs. This quantum juxtaposition is seen across many different artists from Britain, but so far, only Tracey has been able to master it all. So get ready to be masterclassed, and also moved, and also to move, and… it’s best to expect anything.

Chiaroscuro is something we have been taking for granted visually, but sonically, it might not have been tried enough times to hit properly outside of classical singing. Which is exactly what YHWH Nailgun are not: classic. The North American outfit is daring enough to pick up on classical elements of pop and various synth waves, usually bright in colors, and to recontextualize them into hardcore terms: from picking up vibrant, colourful synths and guitars, wet, hot rhythm patterns, and pour it into bleak chord progressions and growling voices. We know this blend is punk, because it sounds free of prejudice, but we are not sure if that is the best way of categorising their sound. If you care as much as they do, you know what to do: just enjoy it.