Danifox says "Aguenta" and crew founder Puto Márcio concludes with "Coisas Da Vida". These may be words of advice in any circumstance but right now they fit the current assault on our daily lives. Tia Maria are back with a new EP.

Once the most international crew on the label (Lycox in France; Danifox residing in the UK but now back to PT), also a sign of recent times - there was a lot of young emigration from Portugal over the course of the 2010s. File swapping has become ever more the norm between producers who sign their names on collaborative tracks. But shit happens anyway and via WhatsApp it's irrelevant if you live next door or 1000 miles away: standout track "Xupetilson" speaks about this fellow hot-tempered DJ who couldn't resist throwing bad vibes around, so Danifox sings "you're coming to bite me but you're not a dog."

Speaking of dogs, they're out and about when "Mete O Bass" comes to the fore, Dani and Lycox laying heavy metal on the dancefloor; B.Boy keeps the pace with a no-brainer intense beat track ("Kuribotas"), while Danifox, again solo on "Aguenta", works around a dark, urban, rainy soundscape, going off on a jealousy trip with samples of "you showed contempt, you didn't nurture, so now deal with it". And Lycox seems to drive around town at night, calling Lisboa by the well-spread nickname Lisa, just out to dance or going from party to party

This law of Tia Maria represents the core of batida styles, bowing out with the usual heart-breaking grooves of Puto Márcio. When life is sad, make it beautiful.