Former dälek member Alap Momin, also known as Oktopus, has been busy in the years since leaving the seminal avant-garde hip-hop collective. Last year we premiered a track from his group Third Culture Kings, a group that creates a sound that’s self-described as “womb music,” a combination of many different genres and now we’re highlighting a completely different musical venture of Momin’s, Ice Cream, which is a collaboration with fellow producer Daniel D’Errico. Ice Cream takes a completely different approach to songcraft, offering a playful, primitive vibe made with percussion, synths and digitally altered vocals that pull influence from the sounds of Africa and Brazil.

Today we’re excited to premiere the duo’s new single “Faca Afiada,” which features vocals from the duo Mercurias. The single is out on Internet & Weed and features a b-side version of the track with production from Buguinha Dub.

“Faca Afiada,” which means “sharp knife” in Portuguese, opens with a simple dub beat that is defined by a sinister synth and echoing, space-y percussion hits, leaving plenty of space in the mix for Mercurias to drop their playful lyrical stylings. The accompanying video doesn’t feature complicated visual affects, instead featuring images of Mercurias and the single’s artwork spinning and being chopped and screwed, lending to the slightly psychedelic nature of the track. The energetic flow of Lurdez da Luz & Marietta Vital touches on many themes, including fake news and disinformation, slyly slipping relevant themes into what sounds like a fun party track.

(Mercurias)

Prior to the release of “Faca Afiada,” Ice Cream released a self-titled EP in 2018 and followed that up with a single called “Simply Glowing” in September of 2020. The EP and subsequent singles are all released on Internet & Weed, the label founded by Momin.