Pinhdar is the duo comprised of singer and author Cecilia Miradoli and musician and producer Max Tarenzi, formerly founders of the rock band Nomoredolls and of the international festival A Night Like This. They have announced the release of a new album called Parallel which will be out on March 26th, 2021 as self-release.
According to the press release, The album was entirely recorded during the lockdown caused by COVID-19 epidemic in the Milan studio owned by the Italian duo, who played everything in full autonomy, and was then co-produced by Scottish musician and producer Howie B, known also for his collaboration with great artists such as Björk, Massive Attack, Tricky, Everything But The Girl, U2 and many more.
Howie B, who returns after several years to support an Italian band after the experiences with Casino Royale, Marlene Kuntz and Ofeliadorme, stated that “Working with PINHDAR over the last few months has been a sonic delight. Working remotely on this project was a big challenge for both myself and the band. This remoteness has given an extra colour to this album. One that is shining“.
Today we have the pleasure to share the title-track which shows the fluid tension of the sound, the enchanting and embracing female vocals and the well-built balance between melodies and rough lines. Listen below and check our chat with artists who details the new album, the vibes about the current situation and more.
Let’s start from the current situation. How are you living these strange times and what are the main concerns as an artist?
Everyone making his living with music, or has made music an important part of his life, is likely to be suffering more than any other from the pandemic. Without the possibility of playing concerts, the “art” of reinventing ourselves in the digital world and playing live streams are stopgap solutions that don’t actually sustain us.
We spent the last year, especially the first lockdown, to unpack all the feelings we were experiencing and it was a hard process, considering that we also went through bad moments and personal tragedies ourselves so that it was hard not to loose it. But eventually we managed to direct all this into our recordings.
“Parallel” is your new album. You said “We consider this album our most authentic and painful artistic creation.” Can you explain why?
“Parallel” is both the new album and the title track of the lead single. It was born from a very difficult time of our lives when we unveiled our deepest fears, distress and hopes in the most authentic way we could. We tried to achieve that by making our style as minimal as possible and going straight to the core of our sound. This approach forced us to start from scratch multiple times until we found what we thought it was the “real thing”. A very frustrating process that we think eventually helped us in growing as artists.
The lyrics picture our existential anxiety exploring themes such as solitude, the social indifference, environmental threats and our fear of mortality. The single “Parallel” in particular tells the awareness of those who feel destined to drag their lives into an increasingly aberrant reality, because of not having been able to make different choices at the right time. The matter refers on a personal level but represents the difficult relationship between modern society and the environment.
The album is co-produced by Howie B. How was born this collaboration?
After we finished our recordings and while still feeling claustrophobic from the lockdown period, we kind of realised that this album was worth the best treatment we could. This is the reason why we tried to make our “baby” fly far from all those troubles we had gone through and to contact Howie without even expecting him to get back at us. His response was instead fast and enthusiastic at a level that he offered himself not only for mixing the raw tracks but also to contribute with his immense vibe for the production stage. Everything went fast and smooth and we started to work together soon after our first messages.
The album will be out in March and maybe there won’t be the chance to play live. Have you considered something different to introduce your new work?
We are working on our live set in the form we would like it to be presented on stage, involving another musician together with us, because we have this dream about playing live next summer. If this is not possible, then we will use any other way that technology allows to stay connected with our friends and fans. Also, after this first single, a second one with videoclip will be out before the album is released.
Ritual question. Have you seen or heard anything good recently?
As music addicted, we are always listening to old and new stuff ?
There is really a lot of great music and many inspiring artists out there. If we had to mention someone who have recently released, Perfume Genius, Sevdaliza, Fontaines D.C. and Fiona Apple just to name a few. We also like a new band from NYC called Laveda.