Azzurra Traficante landed in Berlin from her native Italy just a few short months ago. But the woman with the angel’s voice is also a one-woman powerhouse: she’s hooked up with producer Federico Ferrandina to put together her debut EP. Ride is the first video single from the EP and shows great promise of things to come.
The best voice I’ve heard for ages
Her voice – the best voice I’ve heard for ages – is reminiscent of Portishead’s Beth Gibbons and with the triphop instrumentation it’s easy to see where her inspiration comes from. Azzurra Traficante co-produced the EP together with Frederico Ferrandina, an Italian guitarist and producer who has also written tons of film scores, including for Dallas Buyers Club, the film about an HIV sufferer that won a boatload of Oscars. Ferrandina’s music is at once sharp as a dagger and quiet as a gathering storm.
Clear and clean as crystal throughout
With a good percussive tattoo using samples of Azzurra’s voice leading one in, the song grows up around you, sparks of various sonic suggestions filling in unexpected shades. The song gathers force, the instrumentation fills up the soundscape, and Azzurra Traficante’s voice, clear and clean as crystal throughout, floats above the whole then darts down through the undergrowth before achieving her vantage point once more.
Mirroring the densening atmosphere
The video to the song uses the animated building up of a city with paper buildings, mirroring the densening atmosphere while keeping the sense of clean lines that the vocal maintains. The video was made by Marta Gobbi with animations by Anna Jarocka.
We’re looking greatly forward to checking out the full EP – out soon – date to be confirmed!
