Populous, aka Andrea Mangia — one of the most innovative producers, DJs, and sound designers on the Italian and international electronic scene — returns to the stage after a seven-year hiatus with a special A/V live show to present his latest album, Isla Diferente, released this past April 11 on his newly founded label, Latinambient.
A visionary and genre-defying artist known for anticipating new musical trends, Andrea composed all the tracks for his latest record between January and February 2024 in Lanzarote. Isla Diferente is, in fact, the nickname of the most mysterious of the Canary Islands — a different island, archaic and tactile, shaped by lunar landscapes, silent volcanoes, unspoiled nature, and art.
Blending the ethereal sweetness of ambient music with the physicality of electronic and experimental Latin rhythms, Isla Diferente seeks to capture the essence of a stark and wild place, where the lightness of the wind clashes with the harshness of massive rocks, where the white and green of the houses stand in stark contrast to the darkness of volcanic soil, and where the millennia-old silence of the volcanoes meets the roar of the ocean.
The visuals for the live show are curated by Furio Ganz, a visual artist and videomaker from Venice, currently a lecturer in Digital Materials for Art and Fashion at IUAV University of Venice. His work begins with readymades and found footage, intersecting with documentary film, digital imagery, and artificial intelligence.
