The 2023 Portuguese album Maquina thinks everyone should listen toIt’s no exaggeration to say that some albums simply stay with you, whether allowing you to discover something new about yourself or changing your mood and becoming a companion in your life. For Lisbon-based prog-rock trio Maquina, an album with such a companionable quality is Pós-Esmeralda by Porto-based minimal wave outfit Conferência Inferno. Speaking to Far Out, Maquina guitarist João Cavalheiro described it as an album that transports him to a better place. Despite being entirely sung in Portuguese, Pós-Esmeralda does not rely on the listeners’ understanding of every lyric to make an impact, and instead, the album’s appeal comes from the contrast at its centre. For Cavalheiro, Pós-Esmeralda actually represents everything exciting about Portugal’s current underground scene, where the music takes inspiration from the past while refusing to remain trapped by it.