Year: 2022
Label: self-released

I actually have a tenuous link to Brazilian Lupusvir. We both appeared on the 2024 digital-only compilation Knife City. Beyond that, I didn’t know much about the one man project, except for a vague understanding that it is, mildly put, eclectic and weird stuff.

Listening to .//Passport_to_filg4ia confirms this impression to be true. And then some. I mean, if you can use words such as neofolk, dark ambient, lo-fi and hip hop to describe the same album, then it’s out there. Guaranteed.

The album truly is a strange, surreal and deeply difficult thing to describe. No matter how I try to approach it, it feels like I’m not doing it justice. I’d like to say it’s built on a foundation of melancholy neofolk with elements from dark ambient, laced with lo-fi and electronica elements.

But it’s not really that. Maybe it’s experimental lo-fi pop with neofolk and ambient elements?

But it’s not really that. Some of the tracks on the album, such as The Hills Are Dreaming and album opener Opening The Gates (From Filg4ia To Magonia) remind me more of black ambient a’la what some of the obscure Les Legions Noires acts did.

And then the album closes with Dream_chasers, which is like stolen from some old spaghetti western.

Suffice to say, there’s a lot of breadth to Lupusvir’s expression. Atmospherically, however, a certain melancholy, rainy sadness permeates the album. From the broken, glitching hip hop beat and sort of anime-style piano melody of N I G H T D R I V E to the haunted, tender neofolk of Many Full Moons Ahead – which brings to mind Of The Wand And The Moon – there’s this almost tragic sorrowfulness to the music. The vocals, often a fragile whisper or subdued voice, accentuate this.

Of course, the cover image with its moody colours and eerie, foggy landscape plays its part. But undeniably, there’s an autumnal, dreary, hauntingly beautiful atmosphere to the album.

In addition to being hard to describe, .//Passport_to_filg4ia is one of those albums it’s extremely hard to cast a verdict on. In its multitude of styles an unconventional approach, it remains elusive and intangible even after repeated listens. To be frank, that’s god damn frustrating. But there’s also an undeniable charm to its absolute weirdness and unpredictability.

.//Passport_to_filg4ia is one of those albums that takes a special kind of listener to appreciate. In and of themselves, most tracks are pretty accessible – and good. The dark ambient tracks will appeal to dark ambient fans, the neofolk tracks to neofolk fans, and so on. It’s the whole that’s made from these diverging styles that’s a tough nut to crack.

The unprejudiced listener, someone ready to challenge themselves and give the album the time and patience it needs, will most likely find a lot that is rewarding on here. But definitely, it takes a special kind of person.

Visit Lupusvir on their official website, Bandcamp or Instagram