SALÓ is a mystifying fusion of noise, prog rock and psychedelic music that attempts to imagine a “dreamy and decadent” Roman renaissance. It’s the brainchild of multi-disciplinary artist Emiliano Maggi, who links with Mai Mai’s Toni Cutrone, Wildmen’s Giacomo Mancini, producer Cosimo Damiano and musician, writer and critic Stefano Di Trapani to distill a wellspring of poems, fairytales, anecdotes and mythologies – drawing on mythological symbolism, medieval theater and rural iconography – into an oozing celebration of art, ecstasy and extravagance. SALÓ developed as a way to challenge both themselves and their audience, performing with the ensemble exhaustively before they were ready to pen their debut full-length. The project is seen as a way to extend an artistic conversation across disciplines, unifying all their different interests; at any given performance, it’s hard to know what to expect, and that’s the point. One day SALÓ might be a full band, the next it could be a painting, a string ensemble or a choir. This irreverence and mischievousness undergirds the album, offering its sprawling, ambitious compositions a level of carnivalesque eccentricity that’s impossible to ignore.
