Lovedust
Bringing together four musicians from the Portuguese and British underground scenes, LOVEDUST introduce their sound with Life Goes On / Mean Machine, released via Lux Records
Emerging from the Portuguese and British underground music scenes, LOVEDUST create a distinctive blend of post-punk, darkwave and new wave. Based in Coimbra, Portugal, the band draws inspiration from the sounds of 1980s post-punk, with influences ranging from The Cure and Joy Division to The Sound, New Order and Magazine. Rather than simply recreating the sound of an earlier era, however, LOVEDUST embrace its spirit while forging a musical identity of their own. The band brings together four musicians with extensive experience in Portugal’s and the UK’s independent and alternative music scenes. Their diverse musical backgrounds converge in a sound defined by atmospheric textures, underlying tension, strong melodies and emotional depth. With their debut double single, Life Goes On / Mean Machine, released in September 2026 through the independent Portuguese label Lux Records, LOVEDUST introduce a project rooted in alternative music traditions yet driven by a desire to explore beyond genre boundaries.
In Life Goes On, LOVEDUST explore liberation, self-discovery and the courage to leave behind relationships, expectations and identities that no longer serve us. Accompanied by an evocative official video exploring isolation, confrontation and transformation, the single establishes the band’s ability to combine post-punk intensity with melodic immediacy and a sense of possibility beneath the darkness. In this interview with Indie Sound Magazine, the musicians discuss their individual influences, the relationship between atmosphere and melody, their experiences in the Portuguese and British underground scenes, and the importance of experimentation, collaboration and mystery in their creative process.
LOVEDUST brings together musicians with very different backgrounds across the Portuguese and British underground scenes. How did the four of you come together, and what was the first moment when you realized there was something special happening musically?
We all came to LOVEDUST with quite different musical histories, backgrounds and life experiences. I personally don’t think too much about it. It is what it is, so let’s just let it flow! It might sound strange, but overthinking isn’t natural to me, and playing music is an extension of myself. It’s good to play with LOVEDUST. I like it!
Your sound draws from post-punk, darkwave and new wave, with names like The Cure, Joy Division, New Order, The Sound and Magazine often mentioned as influences. How do you make sure those influences remain inspiration rather than becoming a limitation?
I don’t think about it too much. It is what it is, so let’s just let it flow!
The influences are there as a concept and a direction, but we’re not consciously trying to imitate anyone. I listen to many different styles of music and, ultimately, I can only categorise music as good or bad.
It takes time for a band to find its own sound. We’re not trying to recreate 1981 or make a record that sounds as though it was found in someone’s basement 45 years ago. The influences are more about an attitude towards songwriting and sound than about copying a particular production style or guitar tone. LOVEDUST’s soundscape is limitless.
What was your first real connection with music, and when did you realize you wanted to create music yourself?
Music is just another form of art and another way of expressing myself. Before music, I spent many years drawing and painting, so I suppose music became another language for the same creative need.
I found it quite relieving, almost like exorcising some of those ugly inner demons and turning them into something creative. Without that outlet, I’d probably be a psychopath by now!
So, I suppose music has been a relatively healthy solution.
Your songs have a very atmospheric quality, but they also contain strong melodic hooks. When writing a song, does the atmosphere come first, or does the melody?
It can happen either way, or both at the same time. One thing leads to another: notes followed by words, and words followed by notes!
I’ve never really written a poem and then thought, “Right, now let’s turn this into a song,” or done the opposite. They tend to develop together.
For me, memorable songwriting is important, but so are the arrangements, production and sound engineering. I’m interested in all those things.
LOVEDUST describes its music as “dark yet luminous.” What does that phrase mean to you personally?
It’s about contrast. You can have melancholy, tension and darker emotions without everything becoming hopeless.
There can still be movement, beauty and the possibility of change. What matters is not being static but being dynamic.
Are there influences outside music—films, literature, photography, architecture, places or personal experiences—that find their way into your songs?
Definitely. Space, architecture, visual imagery, and the relationship between sound, places and people all influence me.
I tend to think quite visually when I’m working with sound. Personal experiences also find their way into the music, but I don’t necessarily want every lyric to be pinned down to one specific autobiographical meaning.
Once something becomes a song, it can transform into something else and, hopefully, allow the listener to create their own interpretation.
Tiago, your background includes Thee Eviltones, production work at Hypermonosonic Recordings as a record producer, and engineering work at Rough Trade. How has working behind the recording console influenced the way you approach LOVEDUST as a musician?
Working behind the console taught me that being technically perfect doesn’t necessarily mean being exciting. Sometimes a small imperfection gives something energy and character.
I think a lot about the sonic picture: where the guitar sits, how much space there is, and whether another layer improves the song or just makes it bigger. If something isn’t adding anything, I tend to leave it out.
Years of recording have also taught me when to stop. If you over-polish something, you can easily remove the excitement from it. I want detail and atmosphere, but I also want it to sound like people are playing.
Luckily, LOVEDUST has very capable musicians!
Pedro, you have been part of important underground bands, including The Parkinsons and The Twist Connection. What feels different about playing bass in LOVEDUST compared with your previous projects?
Playing with different people leads to different results. Tiago has his own way of composing, but he’s open to other ideas and suggestions.
I think it’s too early to try to define or categorise LOVEDUST’s sound, but I can say that the influences in this band come from the darker, more obscure rock bands of the ’80s, synth-pop and darkwave electronic acts, although not exclusively.
There’s also the raw, desperate rock ’n’ roll of the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.
I think that’s part of what makes LOVEDUST interesting to me: different musical references come together, but we’re not trying to force them into a single formula.
João, your guitar work brings atmospheric and sometimes exotic melodic elements into the band’s sound. What are some of your personal musical influences outside the obvious post-punk references?
I think any musician can only benefit from having an open mind and listening to different styles of music.
As a guitarist, I have my own influences, such as Marc Moreland from Wall of Voodoo, Chris Spedding, Brian James, East Bay Ray, Daniel Ash and Rowland S. Howard.
But to answer the question, outside the more obvious post-punk spectrum and everything surrounding it, I’m a big fan of dub—Prince Jammy, Scientist, Phil Pratt and others—as well as reggae, rocksteady and cumbia.
I listen to a lot of that kind of music, but I also really enjoy more synth-driven and experimental acts like Suicide, DAF, Malaria!, Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, Einstürzende Neubauten, Tones on Tail and Clock DVA, to name a few.
I think all those influences find their way into what I play, even if they’re not always immediately obvious. They all contribute to the way I think about rhythm, texture, space and melody.
Samuel, LOVEDUST’s music requires both intensity and restraint. How do you approach creating that balance behind the drums?
For me, it’s about feeling the song and understanding when to push and when to hold back. The balance comes naturally when you play together and listen to what the music needs.
The band members have decades of experience between them. Has that experience made the creative process easier, or does having strong musical identities sometimes make collaboration more complicated?
I think experience makes things easier in a lot of ways. You learn not to waste time, and you quickly recognise what doesn’t work.
Having strong musical identities can sometimes make things more complicated, but I think the important thing is knowing when to push and when to let go.
The song always comes first. It’s not about ego! It’s not about proving who has the best idea; it’s about proving that a specific idea works rather than making the song worse.
Your debut single, “Life Goes On,” deals with liberation, self-discovery and letting go of relationships, expectations and identities that no longer serve us. Where did the idea for the song come from?
It came from reaching a point where something that once defined you no longer does. That could be a relationship, a social expectation, a constructed identity or simply a way of thinking.
It’s not about blaming someone. Sometimes people, situations or even versions of ourselves become incompatible with where we’re going.
Letting go can be liberating. Art gives you that extra power of liberation!
There is an interesting contradiction in the title “Life Goes On”: it sounds simple and optimistic, while the song itself explores quite difficult emotional territory. Was that contrast intentional?
Yes, definitely.
The title sounds almost clichéd and very simple, but it can carry quite a lot of weight when you’re going through a difficult experience.
Difficult experiences matter, and they change you, but they don’t necessarily have to define what comes next.
The future is unknown. Either you take the chance or you let it slip away.
The song balances darkness with hope. Do you see hope as an important element of LOVEDUST’s music, even when the atmosphere is melancholic?
I don’t really see hope and melancholy as opposites. Music can contain both at the same time.
You can acknowledge darker emotions without surrendering to them. There needs to be some light coming through the cracks.
The video for “Life Goes On” explores isolation, confrontation and transformation. How closely did the visual concept develop alongside the music?
The video was very closely connected to the atmosphere of the song, although it wasn’t intended as a literal illustration of the lyrics.
It explores the same emotional world—isolation, confrontation and transformation—but leaves enough ambiguity for the viewer to interpret it.
Lorena Sequeyro understood the atmosphere well and created some amazing visuals around it.
What was the most challenging part of creating your first official single and video as LOVEDUST?
It wasn’t difficult at all; quite the opposite. It all felt very natural.
There are only three chords; all the rest is pure magic!
Obviously, your first release introduces people to the band, so you can spend an endless amount of time changing things and wondering whether you’ve represented yourselves properly.
Eventually, you have to accept that a band isn’t defined by one release. However, in my opinion, it’s a good way to present ourselves.
“Life Goes On” was released through Lux Records. What does working with Lux Records mean for the band, particularly given its connection to Portugal’s independent music history?
Lux Records has a genuine connection with Portugal’s independent music history, so it feels like a very natural home for us.
There’s an independent mentality there that fits the LOVEDUST universe, and it gives the music a context without dictating what the band should be.
LOVEDUST comes from Coimbra rather than one of the more commonly associated European music capitals. How does Coimbra influence the band’s identity and sound?
Coimbra has its own particular atmosphere. It’s a beautiful city, but it can also be quite misty and grey.
It’s not always about the sun! There you go again—dark yet luminous!
I tend to take life as it comes. Sometimes it rains; another day, the sun is shining. That’s life, and I love it.
LOVEDUST also has connections to Portugal, Britain and Japan through our individual histories. So, while Coimbra is our base, the places we’ve lived in, travelled through and experienced naturally find their way into the music.
Do you feel there is a particular Portuguese character or atmosphere that finds its way into LOVEDUST’s music, even though your influences are largely connected to British and European post-punk?
I think there is a particular Portuguese melancholy, but I’m not sure it belongs exclusively to Portugal. Melancholy exists everywhere; it just takes different forms depending on the place, the people and the experiences behind it.
Perhaps there is something in the Portuguese atmosphere that naturally finds its way into our music, but I wouldn’t say LOVEDUST belongs to one particular place. Our influences come from different countries, different eras and different experiences, and I think the music reflects that.
In the end, melancholy doesn’t really need a passport. You can find it anywhere, and hopefully, that’s what allows our music to connect with people wherever they are.
What do you think distinguishes the current Portuguese alternative scene from the underground scenes you have experienced in the UK?
The UK has historically had a huge infrastructure for independent music, including venues, promoters, labels, radio stations and record shops, as well as a culture of small bands constantly playing live.
Portugal is obviously much smaller, so there are limitations, particularly when it comes to having a scene large enough to sustain itself. Compared with countries like the UK, Spain or Germany, the Portuguese alternative scene is simply much smaller in scale. There are great bands and interesting things happening, but sometimes it can feel fragmented rather than like one large, established scene.
At the same time, that can make things more personal. The scenes overlap, people know each other, and bands often share stages and support one another.
There is a lot of interesting music happening in Portugal. The real challenge is having enough infrastructure and opportunities for that music to travel beyond the country.
The word “mysterious” appears several times in descriptions of LOVEDUST. How important is mystery to you as artists? Is there something you deliberately prefer to leave unexplained?
I think mystery is important.
Art doesn’t necessarily need to explain itself. We’re living in a time when artists are expected to explain absolutely everything: what a song means, what inspired it, what the video represents and what they were feeling when they wrote it.
Sometimes that can destroy the experience.
I like records where you don’t completely understand the world they’ve created. You go back to them because there’s still something unexplained.
I think LOVEDUST should retain some of that mystery.
Your music seems particularly suited to late-night listening, but also to a dancefloor. Do you think about where and when people will experience your songs while you’re writing them?
Not consciously.
But I like that contradiction: something you can listen to alone through headphones late at night, but which can also make people move on a dancefloor. Thanks to Pedro Chau and Samuel Nejati for keeping it groovy.
Post-punk and new wave have always had that ability to combine introspection with physical movement.
You can have melancholic lyrics over a danceable bassline, and that tension is interesting.
How long did it take you to feel that you had found your own musical identity?
I’m not sure you ever completely find it.
If you decide exactly what your identity is, you risk repeating yourself.
With LOVEDUST, we’re starting to recognise certain characteristics that feel like our own, but I think that identity should continue to evolve.
Personally, I like having a concept for an LP, and that’s what we’re aiming for. Hopefully, the album will give us another way of developing that identity.
How important is experimentation in the studio for the band? Do songs change significantly between the rehearsal room and the recording studio?
This question doesn’t really apply to us, to be honest.
The music arrives in the practice room already cooked!
We actually tend to work the other way around, stripping away anything that isn’t necessary for the live performance.
My production background means that I see the studio as another instrument, but I still want to preserve the excitement of four people playing together.
If someone heard only one LOVEDUST song for the first time, what would you want them to understand about the band?
It’s a universe of colours played as notes, which translate into emotions.
I want people to hear atmosphere, melody, tension and movement.
The instruments need to create space for each other, and hopefully, by the end of the song, the listener feels slightly different from when they started.
What can listeners expect from LOVEDUST after “Life Goes On”? Are you already working on more singles, an EP or a full-length album?
We’re actively working on our debut LP.
The double single, “Life Goes On” and “Mean Machine”, is an introduction to the band, but it certainly isn’t the full picture. There are still many other sides of LOVEDUST that people have yet to hear.
We’ll see where the songs take us. There may be more singles or an EP along the way, but the main focus at the moment is the debut album.
Where do you see the band fitting within the contemporary post-punk and darkwave landscape?
I don’t think too much about where we fit.
Genre labels are useful as a reference, and post-punk, darkwave and new wave are definitely part of our DNA.
But I’d rather LOVEDUST sit somewhere around the edges of those definitions.
If you’re a fan of The Cure or The Sound, hopefully you’ll connect with us. But I’d also like someone who doesn’t normally listen to post-punk to hear a song and think, “That’s a good song.”
That’s more important to me than fitting neatly into a genre.
There has been a major revival of interest in post-punk and darkwave in recent years. Do you see that as an exciting opportunity, or does the current popularity of the sound create new challenges for a band like LOVEDUST?
It’s both exciting and challenging.
There’s obviously an audience interested in darker guitar music, synths and everything surrounding that sound.
The challenge is that when a genre becomes popular, it can also become formulaic. You start seeing similar sounds, visuals and production techniques everywhere.
Post-punk was never supposed to be a historical template. The original bands were experimenting and trying to do something different; they weren’t sitting there thinking, “Let’s make a post-punk record.”
That attitude is more important to me than reproducing the surface of the genre.
After so many years of involvement in independent music, what still excites you about starting something new?
The uncertainty.
Starting something new means you don’t know where it’s going.
A song can come from one person playing something and another person reacting to it, and suddenly you’ve created something that none of you could have created individually.
After all these years, genuine musical chemistry feels quite rare, so when it happens, it’s exciting.
Finally, if LOVEDUST could take its music anywhere in the world right now, which city would you most like to play and why?
It’s difficult to say which city we’d most like to play.
I don’t think there’s such a thing as one “best” place to play.
Wherever people are looking for some kind of new kick, that’s where we want to be.
We’re the band!
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