Aldebaran releases Severe EP on Sum Over Histories
Severe by Aldebaran is the latest release on Sum Over Histories, the label from Frankey & Sandrino. Aldebaran is the elusive project masterminded by Michele Di Martino, an Italian producer born and raised in Rome on a diet of electronic music and visual arts.
Martino’s often described as a composer rather than a producer thanks to his unparalleled artistry and aptitude for weaving narratives into each production; a talent demonstrated in the EP’s opening track, Severe. With a throbbing, methodical start, the track soon builds in complexity with eerie synths and hushing hi-hats creating an ominous atmosphere. Martino adds repetitive, melodic keyboards that suggest urgency, as if we’re searching for something or mourning something lost that can’t be found.
Olmo, Italian for Elm Tree, treads a different trajectory, launching straight into high-pitch synths and fast-paced melodies. Martino’s skill lies in pairing unexpected elements that don’t instantly connect – like deep bass lines alongside acute strings mixed up with off-beat percussion and chaotic wood-chimes. In Olmo, though, it all comes together in perfect unison to make a unique composition.
For the third and final track of the EP, Aldebaran teamed up with Mexico-born sibling duo Ccismō to produce a comedown track, if you will: a slow and peaceful antidote to the intensity that came before it. Andamento is a slow indie dance track, packed to the brim with psychedelic synths, throbbing percussion, haunting melodies and unforgettable atmospherics. This track is made for the close-eyed listener, for the bedroom dreamers and dance floor wanderers happy to get lost and carried away.
The Aldebaran project began in the late 2000s, when Michele Di Martino became fixated by the intersection of music and imagination. He’s spent his life working tirelessly in the realm of composition and sound design and mastering a plethora of instruments including drums, flute, guitar, bass, piano and mandolin. His primary instrument, however, is synth. He uses this diverse tool as the foundation for each of his compositions and as a means to create, hold and extract emotion from the listener.
ABOUT SUM OVER HISTORIES:
Sum Over Histories is a label for the conscious listener – ‘contemporary electronic music made for closed-eyed dancers.’ – founded and run by Frankey & Sandrino. Driven by a passion for electronic dance music in all its forms, the label creates space for multi-instrumentalists and producers to explore their inner selves, creating introverted narratives that encourage profound listening for our minds, not just beats and rhythms for our bodies.
