First meeting back in 2006, it wasn’t until February earlier this year that music heavyweights Marina Vello (Bonde de Role) and Adriano Cintra (CSS) finally put the finishing touches to their self-named debut album MADRID after a busy couple of months working through the São Paulo heat. Brooding over much more melancholic themes than in some of their earlier work, aptly named tracks like 'Sad Song' and 'Till Things Fall Apart' set Marina’s eerie vocals against a backdrop of echoing piano solos and simple guitar chords.

Madrid is MArina and ADRIano. We don't know where we're going; I guess we're just hanging around

Their latest video for 'Siblings' leads the duo through a smoky grey-scale, filled with winter smog, barren heath, and heaps of dead wolves, all of which brilliantly capture the darker preoccupations of their new work.

Dazed Digital: Where did you come from, and where are you going?
Madrid: We're from Brazil, we've been friends since we toured together in 2006 with our previous bands. We made some songs together November last year, four songs in five days. We had a good musical connection, so we decided to write an entire album. We started recording in February. By April we had a record mixed. Madrid is MArina and ADRIano. We don't know where we're going; I guess we're just hanging around.

DD: You’ve both worked as part of two well-known bands before, what makes this project different? What prompted you both to start something new?
Madrid: We are looking back to our musical roots. We felt like we had to move on so we looked back. Madrid is closer to what we both did before our former "high profile" bands.

Some of your new tracks are quite sombre, much more melancholic than Bonde do Rolê or CSS’s work, have you consciously decided to focus on darker themes?
Madrid: No, it wasn't intentional. We just wrote songs that ended up showing how we were feeling at the time. It was honest and spontaneous.

What’s …

… good for a hangover cure?
Vitamin C and sleep (but we're abstemious)

… been the highlight of your summer so far?
It's winter in Brazil... but going to the countryside to shoot the Siblings video was quite nice.

… the best thing about where you’re from?
Our friends.
 
… your biggest fear?
Mitt Romney.
 
… your secret talent?
We can spit real far, real far.

Tell us something new.
Nowadays, living in São Paulo is more expensive than living in London.