Alessandro Cortini has announced his new LP Scuro Chiaro, will drop on June 11 via Mute. Today, he has shared a video for album track “Chiaroscuro,” directed by Marco Ciceri with CGI by Ciceri and Axel Schoterman.

From Alessandro Cortini

“It represents the record, where I was and where I am emotionally,” he reveals. “It’s to do with the conscious decision about trying to be positive, of striving for happiness while accepting the fact that happiness is not all positive.”

“Scuro Chiaro is the opposite of chiaroscuro [the use of light and shadow to give strong contrast], and in a way it shows that no matter how you order things there’s always going to be two elements that tend to be the opposite of each other that make up the truth—or make up everything.”

On his previous album, VOLUME MASSIMO (2019, his first for Mute), Cortini developed a process he carried through to this album, working through his archive of personal recordings and carefully surveying to find sounds and elements with which to compose. “To me things that were created apart in time can fit together in a work of art, and it doesn’t matter when they were created,” says Cortini. “You drink wine that is ten years old with a meal that is freshly handmade. The final product, in my opinion, doesn’t need to be made at the same time.” The artwork for SCURO CHIARO, shot by Emilie Elizabeth, is an extension of the thematic bridge between the two works.

Cortini recently collaborated with electronic musical instrument manufacturer Make Noise to create a bespoke instrument and effects unit, Strega. “Strega is a successful attempt to condense my sonic aesthetic into a music making box,” Cortini says. “Throughout the time that I finished the record I was receiving prototypes, and their work was integrated on the record.”

Alessandro Cortini
Scuro Chiaro
Track listing
Mute Records

1. ECCO
2. CHIAROSCURO
3. LO SPECCHIO
4. CORRI
5. SEMPRE
6. VERDE
7. NESSUNO
8. FIAMMA

Alessandro Cortini Discography

ILLUSION OF TIME – with Daniel Avery (2020, Mute / Phantasy)
VOLUME MASSIMO (2019, Mute)
IMMEDIATE HORIZON – with Lawrence English (2018, Important Records)
AVANTI (2017, Point of Departure Recordings)
ALESSANDRO CORTINI AND MERZBOW (2017, Important Records)
FORSE (2015, Important Records)

Pre-order SCURO CHIARO here