The Midnight Room

Two years after the release of their critically acclaimed Sub Pop debut Valende, the Italian psychedelic avant-pop explorers are back. Though the band is five members strong when they play live, it is now solely the project of founder and songwriter Marco Fasolo. This new record pulses with a nocturnal, feverish, hallucinatory emotional atmosphere, making for a truly unique aural experience. Two guitars, bass, and drums are enriched by swirling keyboard touches, creating an album that feels like music from some forgotten amusement park at midnight. Evoking bizarre, otherworldly images of gas-lit street corners, abandoned theaters, labyrinthine corridors, The Midnight Room marries the intensity of primitive rock 'n' roll with a renewed taste for a certain kind of typically Italian melody, albeit deconstructed, shattered, and broken into tiny little bits.