There is music that does not arrive.It returns.
Debut album · INFR Records
October 30, 2026
It’s Not a Joke is JER’s eight-track debut album, released October 30, 2026 on INFR Records. Born in Bahia and based in Toronto, the Brazilian-Canadian artist and producer brings places, voices and collaborators from both sides of that journey into the same room. This is not a record that smooths those differences away: atabaques and hand percussion meet drum programming, synth bass and treated voices; guitar and saxophone leave space for the grain of an electronic texture.
Angu begins with the sound and language of Bahia, its atabaques and voices set against fractured beats. The title track turns a playful phrase into an insistent question, while Jia Má gives a song by Uyatã Rayra a dense, physical setting. Holy moves between gospel-inflected urgency and cold digital sound; MDMA pushes the guitars and beat harder. Desapareça then makes room for guitar, oud and silence. Rosa Sônica began with Bruno Capinan marking out a rhythm while JER found a melody, and opens into trombone and synth.
The sequence ends with Último Som: two drummers, May Akanuma’s saxophone and an ending that does not force a resolution. Across the album, JER’s voice and production hold the acoustic and the processed close enough to change one another. The movement from Angu’s crowded opening to that final open space gives the record its shape, without asking either Bahia or Toronto to stand in for the other.
JER and João Leão produced all eight tracks; Vivian Kuczynski co-produced Holy.
A cracked-guitar phrase meets Bahian percussion, synth bass and guitar by Chibatinha (ÀTTØØXXÁ).
Written by Uyatã Rayra, with guitar by Chibatinha (ÀTTØØXXÁ). Produced by JER and João Leão, mixed by Mark Lawson and mastered by Justin Gray.
A standalone single composed, produced and arranged by JER.
Composed, produced and arranged by JER, with bass by Claudio Ramirez and keys by Bruno Aranha. Mixed and mastered by Chem Lab Audio.
K7 / Cassette · Unreleased music
A limited edition of 30 cassettes, with 20 copies available for sale.
Special thanks to Artscape Gibraltar Point for their support by providing their building to us for shooting at Toronto’s Island.
A traditional Umbanda ponto cantado of unknown authorship, carried by word of mouth through Brazil’s terreiros. Between terreiros and churches, Brazil is built on a diversity of beliefs and traditions, where cultures blend into a hybrid expression of languages and identities. In this instrumental version, JER strips away the voice and lets the bell speak.
Traditional Umbanda ponto · Public domain · Arranged by JER
JER is a Brazilian-Canadian artist and producer based in Toronto, whose music blends the sounds of Bahia with 808 kicks, synths, guitar pedals and experimental production.
Her debut album, It’s Not a Joke, is out now on her independent label, INFR Records. Jia Má, written by Uyatã Rayra, features guitar by Chibatinha (ÀTTØØXXÁ) and was produced by JER and João Leão. Listen to Jia Má
She has since performed at Calgary Folk Music Festival, TD Toronto Jazz Festival and TD Music Hall, where she opened for Luedji Luna.
Live · Festivals · Projects
With the support of
Produced with support from the City of Toronto through Toronto Arts Council, the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Ontario, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Produit avec le soutien de la Ville de Toronto par l’intermédiaire du Toronto Arts Council, du Conseil des arts de l’Ontario, du gouvernement de l’Ontario et du Conseil des arts du Canada.
Nous reconnaissons l’appui du Conseil des arts du Canada.