NOSOUND’S ERRA CHANNELS HIS PAIN
Giancarlo’s second solo album Departure Tapes deals with his father’s cancer battle.
Giancarlo Erra releases his second solo album, Departure Tapes, on July 2 via Kscope. On it, the Nosound singer plays piano and analogue synthesisers, with occasional vocals and voice samples.
He began writing the record in 2019, while he travelled between the UK and Italy during his late father’s battle with cancer. “It was just a way for me to cope with a situation that wasn’t easy,” says Erra. “I wanted to transform something that was painful into something that can be enjoyed by myself or by others.”
The title initially derives from the fact that the music was worked up from ideas he had recorded on a four-track OP-1 digital tape recorder. “I liked the idea of a tape on which you record all your favourite music for going somewhere,” he says. “The [album] title has several meanings.”
He wanted to make a statement that was different to his more formally composed 2019 debut solo album Ends, so he recorded most of Departure Tapes live. “I think the tracks have got a very different vibe,” he says. “Playing live it’s less polished, but you have more of a sense of urgency. The first side of the vinyl is more experimental or minimalist, then side two has Blues For My Father – and the second part of the track Departure Tape was edited and released as a single with a video. It’s more melodic and more developed.”
Visit www.giancarloerra.com for more information about Departure Tapes.