La Grazia Obliqua

Formed in 2012 in the Eternal City as an art collective, La Grazia Obliqua refined its musical and lyrical approach at Ghostrack Studio in Rome. In the early days the group works on their ambitious tributes to famous poet/writer/film maker Pier Paolo Pasolini and to Velvet Underground’s first album, revisited by La Grazia Obliqua in its entirety. The group also appears at the Eclettica Festival in Rome two years in a row. Their lyrical and musical attitude gel very quick, leading to a mix of electro/acoustic ballads with deep darkwave tones. After a number of live shows the group concentrates on writing. The result is an array of songs influenced somewhat by new wave/goth groups of the early ’80s on one side, and a more straightforward, old fashioned songwriter-style material on the other. The new songs verge on an almost alchemic balance between deep dark sounds and total freedom which instantly become the group’s trademark. Post new wave overtones, dark ballads and electro sounds fuel introspective lyrics focused on the crisis and decadence of western culture, hailing Beauty as the one and only saviour in a darkwave bombast of visions from the Eternal City. In May 2017 LGO’s eponymous debut E.P. wins them accolades in fanzines, indie radio stations and websites alike. 2018 is the year of consolidation, adding new songs to their emotionally charged stage acts, which increase in impact and intensity, where “their presence and charisma on stage are taking LGO a long way from their early audio/visual experimentations towards unknown darkwave territory” (Frastuoni webzine). In Spring 2019 La Grazia Obliqua release ‘Canzoni per tramonti e albe - Al crepuscolo dell’Occidente’ (‘Songs for sunsets and dawns - At the dusk of the West’), the long awaited first full-length album. Recorded in Rome at Ghostrack Studio and mixed at Artracks Recording Studios in Athens, it reflects the group’s trademark style and imagery in full. “This album captures all our energy. We looked through ourselves in search of everything beautiful and dirty. And everything crazy too, because choosing such a title is plain crazy”. The album is an immediate success for both audience and critics, with a series of flattering reviews and interviews (Rockerilla, Rumore, Drum Club, Loudd.it, Frastuoni, OM Magazine, Ver Sacrum, Magazzini Inesistenti and more). The first issue goes sold out soon and, in September 2020, the album is reissued and distributed by the historic Italian label Contempo Records and presented in the eponymous shop in Florence, together with Pankow, an Italian cult electronic band, in the occasion of the release of their last work. After releasing online an E.P. of four remixes of the song ‘Velvet 1994-2000’, the participation in a compilation edited by Darkitalia Radio - ‘Sparkles in the dark’ - the digital release of the single ‘Scared’ along with its videoclip, created and realised by the dancer Marta Labella, numerous live performances and an intense period devoted to the writing of new songs, in October 2020 La Grazia Obliqua release a four tracks E.P. called ‘Oltre’ (‘Beyond’), initially self-produced and issued to the press only, for promotional purposes, and recently (October 2021) published in vinyl limited edition and distributed by Toten Schwan Records. Contextually, at the moment, LGO are working at the songs which will form their second full-length work, entitled ‘Canzoni d’amore e morte e altri eventi accidentali’ (‘Songs of love and death and other accidental events’), which will be released in early 2022 and it will sanction the definitive birth of a new musical genre coined by the band itself and called “Art-Wave”, which contains all the artistic expressions that have characterized and characterize the sound of La Grazia Obliqua by now. La Grazia Obliqua is: Massimo Bandiera (bass & vox), Alessandra Trinity Bersiani (keys, programming, vox, flute & percussions), Valerio Michetti (drums), Alessandro Bellotta (vox & acoustic guitar).