Nazar

Nazar is the alias of Amsterdam based musician Alcides Simoes. Growing up between Belgium and Angola in the shadow of the Angolan civil war, Simoes started making music as a teenager, influenced by Angolan kuduro music as well as the French Touch artists like Justice and Daft Punk that he grew up listening to in Belgium, leading to a distinctive sound which he has dubbed ‘rough kuduro’.

Nazar signed to Hyperdub records in 2018 with the release of the Enclave EP, which Resident Advisor called “raw, thrilling and unsettling”. Like Enclave, Simoes’ debut album Guerrilla (2020) explored themes of violence and warfare, corruption and brutality related to the Angolan civil war and its aftermath. Its follow up, 2025’s Demilitarize, takes a different turn. Between Covid, falling in love, and a long bout of illness, the period since Guerrilla’s release has been an deeply introspective one for Simoes—which is evident on Demilitarize, where the ‘rough kuduro’ sound is imbued with a soft, dreamy quality.

The arc of the album describes shedding the armour of trauma and surrendering to this new situation. A constant and unexpected aspect of Demilitarize is Nazar’s gentle, submerged vocal. Insistent and mantra-like, it’s like a cross between Elisabeth Frazer, Arthur Russell and Frank Ocean, and the music is fragile and opaque in response. Nazar says – ‘With the album being introspective, I didn’t seek to capture sounds from real places to enhance it’s universe like on Guerilla. I wanted to make it almost metaphysical like creating sci-fi, with classic cyberpunk anime ‘Ghost In The Shell’ being a core inspiration.’ The rhythms of kuduro are still here, but move around his voice like fish around a swimmer. The precise sound design on Demilitarize illuminates from different angles. Chords spiral, ripple and shoot through the beats giving tracks the loosest of settings. Songs disassemble and vocals float off-centre. Demilitarize insists you zoom in, listen closely, tune into Nazar’s rare vibration. Let it overwhelm you, while paying close attention.

“Nazar has created an astonishing, utterly distinctive record that does indeed occupy a very singular artistic space.” The Quietus

“Nazar holds a mirror up to the present and asks what the future should look like too.” Crack