On his 1999 LP Eletro Ben Dodô, Lucas Santtana updated Seventies tropicalia rock, sampling Caetano Veloso behind what appears to be reimagined Tom Zé album art. Sem Nostalgia also goes back to the future, using just acoustic guitar and voice to make an utterly modern LP. On "Cira, Regina e Nana," digital technology turns a whop on a guitar into the sound of an electric typewriter; on "Super Violão Mashup," plucked strings conjure something resembling an Afrika Bambaataa electro-funk jam. Like Feist and Tune-Yards, Santtana erases the line between acoustic and electronic music, waxing nostalgic without the nostalgia.

Listen to "Super Violão Mashup":

“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”