One of the tracks featured in Pop Dell’Arte’s return to records after a decade-long hiatus, “The King of Europe” is the band’s sarcastic view of the continent today, exposing the eponymous king as a symbol and caricature of a xenophobic, racist and neoliberal Europe. In order to illustrate this idea, Carlos Conceição, a Curtas regular, creates an authentic film production, with a rigorous work of costume and production design, as well as a “mise-en-scène” and art direction worthy of the best period movies. The allusions to some of his own films are obvious, with the same mix of classic cinema, baroque aesthetic, and a touch of subversion. This portrait of an invented court, in an imaginary time, is also a response to the album’s concept, which proposes a compression of history in a present made up of various timeframes. (MD)