Sem is the first album by Victor Negri under his own name, after a decade making music as Arubu Avua. It is released via Stray Signals (Berlin) in a partnership with Mutum (Portugal/Brazil). The album, composed between late 2023 and early 2025, comprehending an extended period of compounded grief and relocation, is largely built upon layers of guitar in irregular loops, with samples, experimental electronics and field recordings. Begun in Lisbon, Portugal, and finished in Campinas, Brazil, Sem (meaning without) is a process of dealing with loss, made by juxtaposing new material with unfinished recordings from previous years. As the process unfolded, the catharsis, for Negri, turned out to be as much in raw expression as in editing. The album then became a symbolic attempt to glue pieces and memories from a world that ceased to exist, in order to move forward. Some of the eight tracks presented gradually unfold, while others crumble or explode in distortion and feedback, and some seem to stand still, as if unsure of the next steps. There is a rough trajectory from disorientation and collapse (Vocoroca) into astonished frustration (Nao) or numb acceptance (Obrigado), all while attempting to land on some kind of optimism, on closing tracks Os cacos and Boa continuacao, the latter a common Portuguese farewell, wishing for a good continuation. Sem is also Negris first album to contain no vocals at all. The decision was gradual, after fruitless attempts at writing songs during that period; ultimately, overwhelm and plain speechlessness prevailed. This wordless approach, while reinforcing the lack suggested by the title, leaves room to wander and invites the ambiguity of the new.