Mandruvá Enters the Ritual with D.R.A.M.A. on THISBE Recordings

There is something inherently theatrical about the dancefloor. Long before clubs, sound systems and strobes, rhythm was already being used as a way of entering another state of consciousness. It is precisely this relationship between music, ritual and altered perception that Brazilian producer Murillo Faleiros explores through his Mandruvá alias, and it finds an especially fitting home on THISBE Recordings with D.R.A.M.A.

Borrowing its name from the ancient Greek concept of drama—the art of poetry performed in honour of Dionysus, god of festivity, ritual madness and theatre—the EP immediately establishes a conceptual framework without becoming trapped by it. Across its two original tracks, Mandruvá builds a world where organic percussion, psychedelic textures, global rhythmic influences and acid-inflected grooves coexist with an unusually patient sense of movement.

The music does not announce itself with unnecessary force. Instead, it gradually establishes its own gravitational pull. Percussion becomes the central language, with layers of rhythm interacting almost like bodies in motion, while psychedelic details appear around the edges rather than dominating the arrangement. There is a sense of something constantly moving beneath the surface, as if the tracks were less constructed than summoned.

That balance between the physical and the cerebral has become an increasingly recognisable characteristic of Mandruvá's work. Active for close to a decade, Faleiros has developed a musical vocabulary that resists easy categorisation. His releases for labels such as Belly Dance Services and PBP Records have explored the space between club functionality and more exploratory forms of electronic music, and D.R.A.M.A. continues that trajectory without sounding like a repetition of what came before.

The two originals are subtle rather than immediately explosive, but their restraint is precisely what gives them their hypnotic quality. Rhythmic patterns gradually lock into place, allowing the listener to become absorbed in their repetition. Acid elements introduce a nervous, almost hallucinatory edge, while deeper percussion keeps the music grounded in the body. It is a productive tension: ancient and futuristic, earthly and psychedelic, physical and introspective.

THISBE Recordings proves to be a natural setting for the project. The label's interest in rhythm, ritual and music that exists somewhere beyond conventional genre boundaries makes D.R.A.M.A. feel less like an isolated release than another chapter in an ongoing exploration of the unexpected.

The EP also expands its universe through three remixes, each approaching Mandruvá's material from a different angle. French DJ Letvink, Argentine-Spanish duo Poulper & Stylic, and Pyrame reinterpret the originals without erasing their identity, adding further perspectives to the release and demonstrating how flexible the source material can be.

Rather than treating the remix section as an afterthought, D.R.A.M.A. uses these versions to extend its central idea: that a rhythm can be transformed without losing its ritual function. Different producers enter the same space and leave traces of their own language behind.

There is ultimately something appropriately Dionysian about Mandruvá's approach. The music does not demand that the listener understand its mythology before entering it. It simply provides the rhythm, the atmosphere and the invitation. The rest happens on the dancefloor.

With D.R.A.M.A., Mandruvá and THISBE Recordings construct a small but convincing portal between ancient ritual and contemporary club culture—one where percussion becomes ceremony, acid becomes hallucination and the dancefloor becomes theatre.

The drama begins when the beat takes over.

BUY