following the conclusion of several collaborative projects, vanessa castro was left with a question: what do i sound like? the answer comes in the form of sou, her first solo ep and a record of the various influences and landscapes that have formed her sonic perspective. composed between 2017 and 2020, sou layers loops of lush guitar and percussion with castro’s introspective lyrics and a variety of synths, both analog and digital. drawing inspiration from the brazilian music of her childhood, as well as electronic and dance music, castro sings in both portuguese and english to chronicle the spaces between self and other, past and present, and the real and imaginary. the result is a bricolage of pine trees, tropical plants, and weeds bursting through concrete; a collage of the mountains of minas gerais, the view outside castro’s bedroom window in ridgewood, queens, and the forests of haukijärvi, finland, where many of the lyrics were written during a residency in 2019. inspired by questions of belonging and love, sou documents geographies, intimacies, and family legacies; traverses biomes and boundaries; and constructs a map of a landscape in transition, one that never attempts to pin down self, place, or meaning, but instead finds harmony in uncertainty. -- Alexandra Wuest