Every artistic project starts with a clean canvas with the sum of its parts yet to be fully formed. The idea usually gets formulated by a singular individual and then bit by bit, or in this case song by song, it becomes an actual entity rather than a thought bouncing around a person’s head. Under the moniker of Castilho, Portuguese artist Pedro Castilho went through a long process to create his first full-length album titled Today We’ll Be The Lucky Ones. Musically the record exhibits a psychedelic pop sound that includes surf, alternative, jazz and R&B elements. This cool array of music became officially released on January 28 via the Cranston based record label Pitch & Prose.

The creation of the album started nearly six years ago, which is an extensive time for any musician no matter their financial standing, popularity status or whatever else. As more songs came into the fold, the instrumentation started to expand while capturing a vintage aesthetic.

“Making ‘Today We’ll Be The Lucky Ones’ was a long process, since the first songs started to be written in 2016, ‘Come Back’ and ‘Lucky Ones’, specifically,” He says about the making of the album. “Since then, others began to emerge and after the first invitation to play live as a support band in 2018 new arrangements were added with the band in the rehearsal room.

After a few concerts and after three singles released, we finally went to the studio in September 2019. We proceeded to record the remaining songs, including ‘Numbers’ and ‘The Wind Blows’ that were written that same year. There were added more instruments including a saxophone, a string trio and guest vocals.”

“The idea from the beginning was to write songs inspired by the songwriting of the 60’s and 70’s with a verse-chorus-outro structure,” Castilho adds. “It ended up being clear on the record, although some of them deviate a little from this aesthetic. For example, ‘Moving Fast, Moving Slow’ is a more modern synth-driven track.”

Castilho headed the production of the album while André Isidro, José Crespo, Luís Medeiros and Miguel Vilhena served as co-producers. Vilhena also handled the mixing for most of the songs and the same goes for Pieter De Wagter who took on the mastering duties. The only track they didn’t do was “The Wind Blows”, which was taken care of by Isidro on both fronts. Outside of the songs previously mentioned, I really enjoy “Survive”, “Looking For Ways” and “Never Felt”. The sax in “Survive” adds a really nice element, the dynamic between the piano and the guitar in “Looking For Ways” is fantastic and “Never Felt” has that sly, smooth synth that’s reminiscent of a ton of ‘70s hits.

While being designated to a specific style, each song on Today We’ll Be The Lucky Ones has the ability to stand out while also being cohesive with the others. Different tones weave themselves in between the notes of certain tracks while others have their own intriguing characteristics. The listening experience takes you on a voyage where the soundscape provides visuals and colors within the mind, which is a rare quality for music to have. Anyone who is willing to go on the sonic trip should log on to Pitch & Prose’s Bandcamp page at pitchandprose.bandcamp.com to give the album a stream and make a purchase. To keep tabs on Castilho in the future, follow him on Instagram at instagram.com/_castilho__/ and on Facebook at facebook.com/souocastilho.