New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Alt Rock Shoegazers
Stella Diana have announced that they will be releasing their 'Nitocris' LP through Italian label Vipchoyo Sound Factory. The first single is 'Sulphur', a dark and sad ballad like a numbing homeopathic remedy, but it is a beautiful slow-burner, beginning quite slowly and then seemingly exploding into infinite space.
This dreamy anthem is accompanied by a melancholic colour-tinted trip of a video, produced by Vipchoyo Sound Factory. The film scenes themselves emphasize the suspended notes, pulsating bass rythm and reverb-laden voice before penetrating gazey guitars suddenly pierce through the silence.
The new single and forthcoming LP follows on the band's recent 'Alhena' EP, released in 2015 by both British and Italian labels and ranked among the 'Best of 2015' on numerous blogger lists.
In comparison to 'Alhena' and the band's previous albums, 'Nitocris' is somewhat more introspective. "We now have three members, which has brought about a change in our sound as we've become a lot more focused on the atmosphere, as well as changes in intensity within the music," explains
Stella Diana frontman Dario Torre.
The forthcoming album, slated for release at the end of April, is named for Nitocris - an ancient Egyptian queen and the last Pharaoh of the Sixth Dynasty. According to the chronicles, she was very beautiful but is not really mentioned.
The album artwork defines the album's title - an abandoned woman, who is beautiful, but sad and suffering. Ethereal and elusive, without a face.
"It's likely that "she" did not exist in native Egyptian inscriptions," comments Dario Torre. "This 'not existing' thing is very interesting and fascinating. Often you do something, you live, you breathe, you work hardly, you love. Nevertheless, for the people you don't exist."
Into the stratosphere of shoegaze... you can see the progression of true musical geniuses" - Jammerzine
"Some of the best sonic sounds around, not only in Italy, but some of the best in Europe" - Primal
Music Blog
"Their sound is so powerful that it really wouldn�t matter if they decided to sing in gibberish" -
Stereo Embers Magazine
"The spirit of late 80s/early 90s British bands like Catherine Wheel and Ride, but also the dark wave seeds of Joy Division and the stylistic underpinnings of new wave artists like Psychedelic Furs and The Chameleons" - Northern Transmissions
"The most interesting shoegaze phenomenon emerging from Italy. Unique in the world of Italian shoegaze... nothing short of fabulous" - The Record Stache
CREDITS:
Dario Torre - vocals/lyrics/guitars
Giacomo Salzano - bass/synth
Davide Fusco - drums
Recorded and mixed at Vipchoyo Sound Factory in Naples by Giacomo Salzano and
Stella Diana
