Novas Frequências is an international festival created in 2011 that promotes experimental music, avant-garde sounds, and sound art, seeking to redefine the relationship between art and the city of Rio de Janeiro as well as the local cultural ecosystem. Over the years, the festival has occupied venues of various sizes and concepts, concert halls, art institutions, public spaces, and unusual places — such as churches, warehouses, schools, beaches, and waterfalls. Novas Frequências thus proposes a 360º relationship with music, developing distinct experiences from what is traditionally imagined in a festival, centered around performances, installations, parties, commissioned projects, site-specific works, lectures, workshops, courses, artistic residencies, and sound walks.

In its 14th consecutive edition, "NF" will take place from December 7 to 15 at Casa França-Brasil, Centro de Referência da Música Carioca Artur da Távola, Solar dos Abacaxis, Quadra do Fala Meu Louro, Leão Etíope do Méier (Praça Agripino Grieco), Galeria Refresco, and Galpão Dama. There will be 24 attractions featuring diverse sound styles and trajectories, including, among others, improvised music, spoken poetry, noise, funk carioca, sound art, electro-punk, techno, contemporary music, ambient, and experimental samba.

Unlike previous editions, the 2024 program does not follow a specific conceptual theme. However, a common element seems to unite much of the lineup: the city of Rio de Janeiro itself. With half of the attractions hailing from the city and its metropolitan region, the artists explore how each embodies or reinterprets the local cultural landscape, blending contradictions, glamour, and rawness. In this regard, the festival's director and curator, Chico Dub, reflects:

"I think a lot about the song 'Eu sou o Rio' by the mythical band Black Future when I listen to many of the artists in the program. It’s a Rio that is much more underground, on the margins of clichés; more political, visceral, unequal, and true. Full of cyberpunk and suburban narratives, debauched hedonism, funk-inspired, technological, desolate, dystopian, and futuristic."

Line-up in alphabetical order:

Agazero
Ajítẹnà Marco Scarassatti, Maya Quilolo & Ibã Huni Kuin
Ale Hop (PE/DE)
Carmen Jaci (BR, FR, CA/NL)
Caxtrinho
CIANA
EQUIPE 7RIO + PREMOLAR
Félix Blume (FR)
IPSNIC (BR/DE)
Lara Alarcón (AR/DE)
Luca D'Alessandro
LYZZA (BR/NL)
M. Takara & Carla Boregas (BR/DE)
Meta Golova
Nãovenhasemrosto
O Estranho Iluminado & Fausto Fawcett (tocam Chelpa Ferro & Fausto Fawcett)
Podeserdesligado
Prefeitura do Rio
Rafaele Andrade (BR/NL)
Salisme
Teto Preto
Valesuchi (CL/BR)
Vasconcelos Sentimento
Vera Fischer Era Clubber
About the program

The program for the 14th edition of Novas Frequências seems to orbit around the theme of Rio de Janeiro, whether more directly, latently, or subjectively. Fausto Fawcett, the ultimate chronicler of the underworld and chaos, joins the noise of Chelpa Ferro in the piece Pesadelo Ambicioso, a lyrical, epic, and comedic drama that will be performed live by the trio O Estranho Iluminado in collaboration with Fausto. Formed by members of the trio Crizin da Z.O., the projects EQUIPE 7RIO + PREMOLAR "curse the city of Rio" and connect the suburban corridor parties with the most severe distortions of contemporary electronics. Another group interested in these parties is the duo Prefeitura do Rio, which, by mixing digital hardcore and Miami bass, transforms corridor parties into punk circles and vice versa. Punk rock (or rather, post-punk) is also present in the bass lines of Vera Fischer Era Clubber, a synth-pop-disco-trash band that sings in a distinctly Carioca way about the nightlife filled with excitement, flirtation, and the pursuit of satisfaction. Critically acclaimed, the singer, composer, and guitarist Caxtrinho experiments with and distorts samba in lyrics that narrate the daily lives of those who are typically invisible.

The festival reveals its most performative side with the presentation of two premieres. Tudo pra mim é viagem de volta by Podeserdesligado is a construction of a sound continent based on their personal experience with gender transition and their desires and needs to invent a body capable of encompassing their own experiences. Through chants, ícaros, dance, and percussion instruments, Ajítẹnà Marco Scarassatti, Maya Quilolo, and Ibã Huni Kuin bring together Black and Indigenous cosmologies.

Maintaining its connection to sound art, "NF" will showcase the sound installation Enxame at Casa França-Brasil. Created by French artist Félix Blume, the work reproduces the sound of 250 bees from a hive through 250 speakers. The privileged, immersive position aims to make audible the many sound stories of these small beings about their daily lives, work, and importance in biodiversity preservation.

Ale Hop, Luca D'Alessandro, and Salisme will perform at the Centro de Referência da Música Carioca Artur da Távola, united not so much by sonic proximity but by a commitment to research that shares a common goal: to create a channel of visibility and listening for artists whose productions remain marginalized and silenced. Ale Hop is a Peruvian musician based in Berlin who constructs layers, textures, and noise with an expanded guitar. She is a co-author of Switched On – The Dawn Of Electronic Sound By Latin American Women, the first book dedicated exclusively to the female protagonists of Latin American electronic music. Through a partnership with Musimutra, a mapping channel for invention music produced by women, non-binary, and transgender people in Brazil, Luca D'Alessandro and Salisme were selected for the festival. Luca D'Alessandro is a cellist who develops a tangle of sounds through improvisation, noise, and song references. Salisme combines digital and organic textures, flirting with industrial and experimental electronics.

In recent decades, Berlin has consolidated itself as a true global mecca for artists in the invention music scene, being the city that attracts the most talents in the world. In this 14th edition, in addition to Ale Hop, three other attractions that have chosen the German capital as their home are featured in the lineup. ICNISP is a duo formed by Marina Cyrino (flute) and Matthias Koole (guitar) that applies techniques and procedures to their instruments to create an idiosyncratic language in exorbitant chaotic mutations. Via drums and synthesizers, M. Takara & Carla Boregas combine improvised, jazz-like percussion with ethereal and warm electronics. From Argentina, Lara Alarcón uses her voice as an instrument amidst a powerful wall of noise.

No Novas Frequências festival would be complete without a party. Perhaps as a flashback to the 2023 edition, when the festival was inspired by Carnival to shape its programming, the chosen venue for this year is a samba school quadra, specifically the Fala Meu Louro. The cathartic and incendiary Teto Preto will perform, debuting their second album live at the NF. Also from São Paulo, producer, DJ, actress, and sound artist Nãovenhasemrosto will bring her sounds with elements of African roots and heavy beats, in addition to her original productions. An artist of many personas and musical genres, Agazero collaborates with Kelela, creates soundtracks for fashion shows around the world, and is featured in the upcoming Lollapalooza. Chilean DJ and producer Valesuchi has gained a reputation for exciting and engaging sets that put groove at the center. With a strong appreciation for dance music and aligned with research on funk carioca, LYZZA and CIANA will perform on other festival stages: Solar dos Abacaxis and Galpão Dama, respectively. Born in Volta Redonda and now living in the Netherlands, LYZZA reconnects continents through her avant-garde pop and beats that blend funk and UK drill. CIANA focuses on researching Afro-diasporic and Latino electronic movements around the world.

Besides Germany, another country attracting Brazilians is the Netherlands. Rafaele Andrade plays a hi-tech cello made from a 3D printer and biodegradable materials equipped with sensors and an electronic system. Carmen Jaci utilizes hybrid sounds that blend acoustic instruments with synthesizers and vocal recordings, exploring playfulness and the rediscovery of a sense of enchantment typical of childhood.

For ten years, since 2014, NF has been creating immersive experiences in streets and public spaces, embracing the city and turning it into a stage for the festival. In this edition, this characteristic manifests at Leão Etíope do Méier (Praça Agripino Grieco) and Rua do Rosário, in front of the new address of Galeria Refresco. Joining Vera Fischer Era Clubber and Prefeitura do Rio at "Refresco" will be the energy and chaos of electro-punk duo Meta Golova. At "Leão Etíope," Vasconcelos Sentimento will share the space with Caxtrinho, M. Takara & Carla Boregas, and Marco Scarassatti, Maya Quilolo & Ibã Huni Kuin. Addicted to samples, Vasconcelos's sets revolve around electronic experimentation with chaotic and free grooves, accompanied by improvisations and live edits.

In memoriam: Cássia Siqueira and João Rebello (John Woo/Vunje)