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Maria Chiara Argirò is releasing a deluxe version of her acclaimed concept album Forest City, which includes brand new track "Unreal."
Something of a palette cleanser ahead of Maria's new album - which she is laying finishing touches to now - Unreal is a reworking of a track that found its way into Maria's live set whilst supporting Emma-Jean Thackray last year. It quickly became a crowd favourite and was recorded in the summer of 2022, beautifully merging hypnotic beats with swelling synths and a soaring brass section.
On the track, Maria offers: ‘This song is inspired by a tune I wrote a few years back. I explored the concept of real and unreal, blending and pushing both organic and electronic sounds. I wanted to create a steady rhythm blurred together with looped vocals and a synthy dreamlike soundscape.’
"Unreal" arrives alongside a mesmerising video, with AI generated visuals synchronising the timing and intensity of the noise in the animation to the rhythm and dynamics of the music using over 15,000 different images. Directed by Edoardo Ottone.
Forest City has graced Italian end of year polls, with radio support from BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio 1, KCRW, KEXP, RAI 2, FiP, and has been featured in Vogue, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Fader and Pitchfork. With fans like Four-Tet, as well as album track Greenarp being featured on Netflix series Elite, Maria had an amazing 2022 and there is only more to come this year. She will be supporting Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith at Kings Place in April, and playing The Great Escape in May. Earlier this year, Forest City remixes dropped from Byron The Aquarius, Salami Rose Joe Louis and Terracassette.
To continue teasing his forthcoming debut album WORK due March 10th, London multidisciplinary artist Rarelyalways shares the new single "REVIEW." With a twinkling synth-laced, bass heavy beat complementing Rarely's strategic and cheeky lyrics, "REVIEW" continues to showcase the chameleonic qualities of the artist.
Rarely explains the meaning behind "REVIEW," stating, "I believe water is only one of many of the Divine creator’s inventions. In the chorus I disclose my action plan confirming 'water, hand on my waist before they wither away, rejuvenate.' I honestly felt that 'REVIEW' brought more life back into the hip-hop culture."
"REVIEW" follows the previous WORK offerings "URGENT," a haunting and surreal track, the playful lead single "LET'S," and the jazzy b-side "Voice note 0142," all of which arrived paired with videos directed by frequent collaborator MadeInEden.
WORK will follow Rarelyalways' collaborative Manic EP with Hanni El Khatib, featuring the stand out single "Lamenting" as well as his 2020 EP Baby Buffalo. His debut EP was described by The FADER as, “a concise exhibition of his minimalist swagger," with Pitchfork adding, "though Rarelyalways comes out of the London jazz scene, his music has its own distinct flavor."
Rarelyalways learned from a young age that music had functions beyond entertainment. Born in London to a West African family, he was raised by his single father, a drummer who played mainly gospel tunes during hours-long services and would bring Rarely along for afternoons in practice spaces where the young musician learned the power of playing for playing's sake. Rarelyalways went on to attend The BRIT School and eventually entered the South London gig circuit where he would play trip hop and heavy rock in the orbit of artists like King Krule, Henry Wu and the Tomorrow's Warriors jazz collective. With his music often taking on a dark, mysterious tone, Rarely is able to roam freely outside the prescribed structures of hip hop, jazz or anything else, by creating a conversational abstract style that can mold according to a song's message.
London's own multidisciplinary artist Rarelyalways shares "URGENT," the second single from his forthcoming debut solo album WORK due March 10th via Innovative Leisure. Laced with haunting, swirling synths and brass, "URGENT" arrives with surreal visuals directed and edited by MadeInEden. Self-described as a "shapeshifter," Rarelyalways continues to reveal new sides of his persona with "URGENT," which follows his playful lead single "LET'S" and the jazzy b-side "Voice note 0142," both of which arrived with videos directed by MadeInEden.
Speaking about "URGENT," Rarelyalways says, "I avoid gold plating simple tasks as it's a waste of precious time."
WORK will follow Rarelyalways' collaborative Manic EP with Hanni El Khatib, featuring the stand out single "Lamenting" as well as his 2020 EP Baby Buffalo. His debut EP was described by The FADER as, “a concise exhibition of his minimalist swagger," with Pitchfork adding, "though Rarelyalways comes out of the London jazz scene, his music has its own distinct flavor."
Rarelyalways learned from a young age that music had functions beyond entertainment. Born in London to a West African family, he was raised by his single father, a drummer who played mainly gospel tunes during hours-long services and would bring Rarely along for afternoons in practice spaces where the young musician learned the power of playing for playing's sake. Rarelyalways went on to attend The BRIT School and eventually entered the South London gig circuit where he would play trip hop and heavy rock in the orbit of artists like King Krule, Henry Wu and the Tomorrow's Warriors jazz collective. With his music often taking on a dark, mysterious tone, Rarely is able to roam freely outside the prescribed structures of hip hop, jazz or anything else, by creating a conversational abstract style that can mold according to a song's message.
Check out "URGENT" and pre-order/save WORK and stay tuned for more from Rarelyalways coming soon.
London's own multidisciplinary artist Rarelyalways kicks off 2023 with the announcement of his forthcoming debut album WORK due March 10th. Along with the album announcement, Rarelyalways shares the first taste of the project with the single "LET'S." Hypnotic, cavernous rhythms float beneath distinct vocals on the track, underscoring Rarleyalways as the self described "shapeshifter." The lead single arrives with visuals directed by MadeInEden portraying Rarelyalways lounging in a bed with Precious Joie on a rooftop in London as they peek out at each other beneath eye masks and playfully start a pillow fight. Additionally, Rarelyalways shares visuals to the b-side, "Voice note 0142," also directed by MadeInEden, which sonically showcases the more jazzy side of Rarelyalways' roots as a jazz bassist.
WORK's announcement follows Rarelyalways' collaborative Manic EP with Hanni El Khatib, featuring the stand out single "Lamenting" as well as his 2020 EP Baby Buffalo. His debut EP was described by The FADER as, “a concise exhibition of his minimalist swagger," with Pitchfork adding, "though Rarelyalways comes out of the London jazz scene, his music has its own distinct flavor."
Rarelyalways learned from a young age that music had functions beyond entertainment. Born in London to a West African family, he was raised by his single father, a drummer who played mainly gospel tunes during hours-long services and would bring Rarely along for afternoons in practice spaces where the young musician learned the power of playing for playing's sake. Rarelyalways went on to attend The BRIT School and eventually entered the South London gig circuit where he would play trip hop and heavy rock in the orbit of artists like King Krule, Henry Wu and the Tomorrow's Warriors jazz collective. With his music often taking on a dark, mysterious tone, Rarely is able to roam freely outside the prescribed structures of hip hop, jazz or anything else, by creating a conversational abstract style that can mold according to a song's message.
“I think she’s gonna blow your mind” BBC’s Maryanne Hobbs
"A hypnotic beat and swelling synth pads." FADER
“No sound or style is off limits for Maria Chiara Argirò” UNCUT
"drifts between club culture's left-field aspects and jazz improvisation" - CLASH
“The Italian composer conjures mysterious, aquatic undulations” The Guardian
"There’s no escaping the gorgeous spell Argirò casts." Pitchfork
Following the release of her critically acclaimed album Forest City, Maria Chiara Argirò recently announced a remix package of some of the album's highlights. For the second installment, Terracassette deconstruct the ethereal album standout ‘Greenarp,’ building it back up into a club-ready IDM burner. This follows ‘Clouds’ which was recently remixed by Atlanta's electronic funk wizard Byron the Aquarius. The remix gained spins on BBC 6 Music and KCRW.
After quietly weaving her way around the UK jazz, classical and electronic worlds Maria has cemented herself as a key player in the capital’s multi-national jazz scene. Maria has released a few solo and collaborative records (Flow was The Guardian’s jazz album of the month and nominated as album of the year in the Jazz Revelations Awards), but on her latest album Forest City it feels like the turning of a page as she liberates herself from the structures of jazz.
On Forest City, Maria found 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.