D'Addio - D'Addio

D'Addio

D'Addio
​self-released; 2022

By Dino DiMuro

​The Artist Known As D’Addio is actually London’s Giulia Scarantino, a multi-instrumentalist producer, singer and songwriter. After two EP’s and one LP with her band ShirleySaid, her solo debut is titled D’Addio. Scarantino calls this collection “both a goodbye and a welcome to all the infinite possible new-selves that are yet to come.” Though the first single “A Separation” was released in 2019, the pandemic delayed the full album until now.

Scarantino did all production, recording and mixing in her room at home. Her press release explains that “though being constrained in a studio-bedroom might be perceived as a limitation, Giulia decides to embed this intimate atmosphere in the album, with its texture and feeling characterized by a ‘dirty’ sound: sirens, hums, background noises and lips’ proximity to the mic caressing the idea of distortion, which is a way to dip into our fears and dance with them.” More simply, Scarantino concludes: “These are just love songs.”

Scarantino sings and plays guitar, bass, synth and piano, with help from three drummers: Marco Quarantotto, Toni Nordlund and Robert Segala. Joe Sharp adds trumpet and Marcho Machera provides additional arrangements and bass. Mastering was by Fabrizio De Carolis at Reference Studios in Rome. The recording overall is very good to excellent, though sometimes Scarantino goes much further than “caressing the idea” of distortion.

“John’s Glasses” starts off like the soundtrack to a 1940’s Film Noir. Slow beats, saxophones, horns and interesting percussion. The acoustic piano heralds the first of Scarantino’s vocals, which mirror both the tonality and processing tricks of Kate Bush. Overall this track has a seductive, big band jazz feel with a modern flourish. The final minute strips away most of the instruments except horn and piano. 

“Bucolic” sounds like its title, pairing Scarantino’s more prominent vocals with a twangy, meandering guitar line, which slowly morphs into an almost classical arrangement. This is the second of five songs featuring drummer Marco Quarantotto, and he pulls out all manner of interesting beats and noises in the second half of the song. The basic beat is slow enough that he can create countless interesting patterns and rolls. 

“Victoria” has acoustic and eclectic guitars trading bluesy, sideways patterns. Scarantino’s voice is now even more clear and proves to be both intriguing and seductive. I’d almost call this track smooth jazz, but with a pronounced otherworldly vibe. “OJ” feels like D’Addio in modern hit format: drummer Quarantotto provides yet another unusual but catchy pattern, with the vocals and music featuring Scarantino at her most radio friendly, bordering on dream pop. “Deal” is somewhat similar, though the chorus is somewhat distorted and the simpler drum patterns sound programmed. That said, it’s still working for me!

“Somewhere Nice” features a hushed, very heavily compressed lead vocal that clicks on and off as Scarantino sings. The melodies and arrangement again have a pleasing smooth jazz quality. “A Separation” introduces new drummer Toni Nordlund, and is another dreamy jazzy concoction with lots of distortion, fittingly for a song that may be sung by a ghost. Love the idea and the abrupt ending! Nordlund returns on drums for the album’s second single “Leave It” wherein Scarantino clears away the vocal cobwebs, singing clear, Japanese-sounding harmonies atop another distorted background of circular guitar melodies. 

“So Far So Close (By The Window)” closes out the collection with intimate acoustic guitar, naturalistic vocals and the sounds from Scarantino’s window as a background bed. I love the gentle feel of the music and singing with the perfectly-timed intrusion of wailing sirens in the first third. Playing this in the car the first time, I assumed the sounds were coming from outside. Home on headphones, the effect is very cool, especially when Scarantino lets the tape run for a full minute after the song.

There’s a lot to enjoy here, and though some of the mixing choices took some time for me to get used to, overall this is a stellar set of songs and performances from an obviously talented artist.

linktree

Tweet