News
“I think she’s gonna blow your mind” BBC’s Maryanne Hobbs
"a clubby departure for Argirò, trading in clever chord changes for a hypnotic beat & swelling synth pads." FADER
“In a month all your cool friends will talk about Maria Chiara Argirò” Rolling Stone (IT)
"The trained pianist sublimely fuses the jazz and electronic music worlds, creating sprawling compositions that marry her poetic lyrics, looped vocals, and intricate rhythms." FLOOD
“...a seemingly effortless blend of electronic elements with dance beats and a chocolate fudge swirl of jazz trumpet, this builder commands center stage. Play it loud for a weekend catharsis” KCRW
Multi-instrumentalist and trained pianist Maria Chiara Argirò has released her textural and emotional new single “Greenarp”. Her forthcoming album and Innovative Leisure debut, Forest City, sees its release on May 6th, 2022 and is Argirò’s first full venture into electronic production.
“‘Greenarp’ is about experiencing a beautiful natural scene and a reoccurring dream of being in nature,” she reveals. “The dream is blurred together with the reality of waking up with, almost, at the end of the song - not knowing what’s real. I wrote the instrumental part mainly on my organelle arpeggio synth as I wanted to create an abstract sound layered with detuned synths into the production, in order to create a blurred and uncertain dreamlike soundscape.”
Maria Chiara Argirò’s hypnotic new single “Blossom” was inspired by the beauty and perfection of nature and questions what it means to grow in this world – as a human or plant. Lyrically the song evolved into a fairytale scene. Maria tells, “A girl wakes up in the night, looks out of the window and sees someone she loves leaving, probably for good. She wants to call out and say ‘don't go’, but the words don't come out. Instead a little flower drops out of her mouth. The flower represents growing and moving on from something, or a deeper understanding of the situation. The flower comes out instead of the words that are holding you back.”
The upcoming LP, Forest City, is due out on May 6, 2022.
“I think she’s gonna blow your mind” BBC’s Maryanne Hobbs
"a clubby departure for Argirò, trading in clever chord changes for a hypnotic beat & swelling synth pads." FADER
“In a month all your cool friends will talk about Maria Chiara Argirò” Rolling Stone (IT)
“...a seemingly effortless blend of electronic elements with dance beats and a chocolate fudge swirl of jazz trumpet, this builder commands center stage. Play it loud for a weekend catharsis” KCRW
"drifts between club culture's left-field aspects and jazz improvisation" CLASH
"Bonsai" was also named Clash's song of the day.
"New song 'Bonsai' is - appropriately, given the title - a microcosm of her work, with the billowing house elements carrying a unique physicality. Heady, other-worldly stuff, 'Bonsai' grows organically, the lush horn elements augmented by the percussive rattle." - CLASH
"a clubby departure for Argirò, trading in clever chord changes for a hypnotic beat and swelling synth pads." - The FADER
On Forest City, Maria finds a glistening thread between these movements: where jazz meets Kelly Lee Owens, Jon Hopkins and Radiohead. It’s a concept record, about the “duality of nature and city”, where organic sounds and textures seem to flow above the urban sprawl.
Maria had finished writing the album before the first lockdown but the enforced isolation helped to give the music a sense of urgency, a longing to be immersed in the natural world and the buzz of the city at the same time. The songs always start as something she can play acoustically, that would work without the bells and whistles, and then she layers the atmosphere around them.
Though the album has dark undertones, it’s not all doom and gloom: in her earthy metropolis, a certain optimism glows through. “It’s about being conscious of the world we live in and how careful we need to be,” Maria explains. “At the end of the day, there is hope”.
Her new, warm and house-inflected single “Bonsai” came spontaneously. Maria reveals, “The main theme and melodies came out of an improvisation I had on my Yamaha CS reface over the first rhythmic synth idea. I remember trying many different sounds playing on my laptop, on Ableton and some VST, focussing on having a playful time rather than being too worried and conscious of the outcome. I wanted to create a playful dance floor track, but I also needed a drastic and big drop to happen at a certain point, like a wake-up call: the trumpet sounded like the best choice to get this “shouting” moment and drop. Like falling.”
Forest City was recorded and self-produced between her bedroom and her studio with the precious help of her longtime collaborators and electronic producers, In a Sleeping Mood and mixing engineer Alex Killpartrick. And, crucially, she is singing for the first time, too – her airy, otherworldly vocals on “Blossom” and “Clouds” especially resemble Emiliana Torrini or a singer in a smoky, late-night club, alone under the spotlight on the stage.
Opening track “Home” sets up the shadowy textural claustrophobia of the city, its melancholic piano evoking raindrops on crowded pavement; then the album evolves into a mesmeric journey spanning downbeat trip-hop, all skittering drums and warped trumpet (“Forest City”), dream-like, folkier songwriting (“Greenarp”, which was named after the arpeggios she created on her beloved Organelle synth), shoegazey alt-pop, punctured by poignant brass solos (“Blossom”) and beguiling jazztronica that wouldn’t sound out of place in a Jamie XX set (“Clouds”).
Forest City sees its release via Innovative Leisure on May 6th. To pre-order / pre-save the album, go here.
This month, Maria is wrapping up a UK tour with Emma-Jean Thackery - more dates to be announced.