Torre di Fine’s “Girl on the Shore”: Exploring the Murky Depths of Sound

Meet Torre di Fine, the two-piece band hailing from north-east Italy, whose alternative music is influenced by shoegaze, post-rock, slowcore and glitch electronics. Their entire album, born after a late work shift in 2020, has been composed, rehearsed and recorded in a 450sq ft apartment, creating a raw and authentic sound. With stripped-down arrangements and a strong focus on ambiance, their debut release explores themes of isolation, uneasiness, and alexithymia. Torre di Fine is more than just a band, it’s a musical experience that takes you on a journey into the murkiest depths of sound.

Step into a sonic journey that transcends time and space with Torre di Fine’s latest album, “Girl On The Shore,” with a collection of ten songs.

The album’s inaugural track, “Vanta,” beckons you into a world of mystery and intrigue with its spine-tingling soundscape, reminiscent of a haunting melody from a horror film. Through the skillful use of a select few instruments, Torre di Fine effortlessly taps into your deepest emotions, taking you on a sonic rollercoaster ride that effortlessly transitions between eerie and melancholy. “Vanta” is simply a breathtaking work of art that leaves an indelible mark on the soul.

As you continue your musical odyssey with Torre di Fine’s “Girl On The Shore,” the second track, “PerfectBlue,” mesmerizes you with its ethereal and haunting qualities. The eerie synths and spectral musical effects take center stage, punctuated by haunting vocals that weave a spellbinding tapestry of sound. Despite its unsettling nature, you find yourself unable to tear yourself away from the mesmerizing allure of “PerfectBlue.”

The haunting and atmospheric soundscape continues with “Attraction.” The track opens with distorted and unsettling sound effects that transport you to an unknown, eerie realm. The synths then take over, guiding you through a dark and mysterious wave of sound, leaving you uncertain of where you’re headed. The mellow bassline and ambient voices interspersed throughout the track only serve to deepen the haunting and ethereal mood, drawing you further into the mesmerizing world of Torre di Fine’s musical artistry.

“Kenopsia,” offers a welcome respite from the intensity of the previous tracks. The song opens with gentle and soothing guitar riffs, allowing you to catch your breath and relax. The serene vocals add to the calming ambiance, but there is still an eerie undercurrent in the form of unsettling background sounds. As the song progresses, another set of vocals enter with depth and passion, adding a layer of complexity to the tranquil atmosphere. The slow tempo of the track ensures that you are fully immersed in the soothing and introspective mood of “Kenopsia.”

“Ammonia” is a breathtakingly beautiful masterpiece that intertwines a haunting melody with mellow vocals added toward the end of the song. The violin’s mournful notes add a touch of melancholy, infusing the piece with a profound sense of longing and sorrow. This song takes the listener on a melodic odyssey of emotions that are both tranquil and deeply moving. The instruments’ interplay is nothing short of magical, weaving a rich tapestry of sound that transports the listener to another world entirely.

“Coercion” casts a spell of haunting beauty from the very first notes, with eerie melodies that draw the listener in. As the keys enter, a sense of unease begins to build, with the synths slowly building towards an unsettling climax. It’s like entering a haunted house, where everything seems normal at first, but as you venture deeper, you realize that things are not quite what they seem.

The music is shrouded in mystery, with mellow voices and distorted sounds adding to the sense of disorientation. The tension slowly mounts, as the synths reach a fever pitch before gradually calming down towards the end. Through the darkness, a glimmer of light emerges as the keys shine through, offering a moment of respite from the unsettling sounds that came before.

Picture yourself floating in space, weightless, with only the gentle hum of your own breath to keep you company. That’s the kind of ethereal atmosphere that “N02A” by Torre di Fine evokes. With a slow, steady pace and mesmerizing vocals, the song lulls you into a peaceful state before subtly shifting into something more haunting and introspective. The drum beats and synths perfectly capture the feeling of thoughts swirling around in your head, never stopping. It’s a musical journey that takes you from tranquility to unease, and it’s impossible not to get lost in the experience.

“Thirst” is a musical masterpiece that effortlessly blends male and female vocals together, creating a sonic experience that feels like warm butter melting in your mouth. Listening to this song is like spending a lazy Sunday morning with your partner, lost in the magic of the moment, as the rain gently falls outside. Liliia Kysil’s voice is nothing short of breathtaking, with a depth and emotion that is impossible to ignore. With every note she sings, you feel yourself falling deeper and deeper under the spell of the music.

This song has a way of breaking your heart and mending it all at once. As the song progresses, it transitions from a melancholic vibe to a slightly unsettling tone, keeping you on the edge of your seat. It’s the kind of song that leaves you feeling both moved and unsettled.

“Mascara” takes listeners on a thrilling journey from the unknown depths of mystery to a cacophony of noise, before eventually settling into a more soothing tone towards the end. This tonal shift continues seamlessly into the beginning of the album’s final track, creating a satisfying sense of closure. The haunting melodies, dissonant synths, and distorted vocals of “Mascara” showcase Torre di Fine’s experimental approach to music and their ability to create an intense, emotional atmosphere throughout the album.

Experience the depth of human emotion with Torre di Fine’s closing masterpiece, “Sorrow.” This 12-minute-long track takes you on a journey through the complexities of sadness and turmoil. As the violin, synths, guitar riffs, and drum beats come together, the song gradually builds up, keeping you on edge. The unexpected variations in the track keep you engaged and surprised throughout. Just as you think you’ve experienced it all, the song bursts out into a headbanging version that will leave you breathless. It then seamlessly calms down, mirroring the ebb and flow of human emotions.

Finally, a short story delivery by a woman adds a touch of ghostliness to the already emotionally charged atmosphere. It’s a fitting end to an album that has taken listeners on a journey of discovery and emotion, and it will leave you breathless and awestruck by the time it’s over.

We recently had the opportunity to interview Torre di Fine. Read on to know more.

A:  Thanks a lot for the compliments, I’m glad you enjoyed our work. The birth of this album is a complicated and self-loathing tale; I think it’s quite clear that I wasn’t living in the brightest of moments while writing it and I still have to process this year and a half in its entirety. After we released our first record a couple of years ago I crashed hard onto a writing block, not being able to get anything interesting done in music, or even outside of it to be fair. I was basically floating in the present, an empty stasis where nothing moves around you, and nostalgia isn’t bringing you anywhere safe anymore. So for once, I started to write about that: instead of recalling past memories I focused on contemporary instants, absence, and pain and punch myself out of the vessel. That sparked some fire, we dug deep into these feelings, juxtaposed them with layers of noise, and here’s Girl On The Shore.

2. The tracks on your album seem to flow seamlessly into each other, creating a cohesive musical journey. How did you approach sequencing the songs on the album?

A: It wasn’t really premeditated: at one point we felt that the tracks we were recording were very closely connected with each other, so we pushed hard to make them flow smoothly and avoid unnecessary spaces. There’s such a wide array of instruments and dynamics in them that it allowed us to actually make them ‘sound’ quite similar without getting a boring construct. We wanted to preserve stark contrast between moments filled with noise and almost pure silence.

3. “Girl On The Shore” features a lot of haunting and ethereal sounds. What instruments and techniques did you use to create these sounds?

A: Matteo and I always start our tracks as basic guitar/bass/voice demos and degrade them to the point of being unrecognizable. We are both very fond of complex signal chains, digital processing, and acoustic experimentation, so nothing is really out of the question when it comes to trying something new: I think at one point I was playing my guitar with a pair of scissors! There’s also a very cool plugin called SPL De-Reverb that tries its best to reduce the natural coda from a signal, and it got us some very interesting results when we stacked 4/5 instances in series and made them fight against unbearable tails of artificial reverb. Either that, or we love to push gate/limiter combinations to the point of breakup, as there’s potentially no headroom in the digital realm, and could code pretty much whatever we wanted. Attraction and Coercion really exploit this concept.

4. There have been a few collaborations on songs on this album. Can you share your experience? Were there any particular collaborations on this album that stood out to you? What was the creative process like working with other artists?

A: After we made our first album in the loneliest of loneliness, I think we both wanted to expand our scope a bit, get some fresh eyes on our tracks and an outside perspective on the direction we were taking. I really didn’t want to make another self-titled record, I was aching way too much to cater to those specific emotions. Personally, I really wanted other voices on the album aside from mine: on one hand, we wrote musically lower material that would fit perfectly a female voice, and I also needed to regain some trust in cooperation. I met both Liliia and Freitas online, asked them if they wanted in, and that’s how they came into play; it was very different for me to collaborate with someone else,

especially those participating in the writing, but I loved every single input they gave us and reignited my interest in some ideas we thought dead. Plus, you know, it helps that they’re both INCREDIBLE singers. Then there’s Marco (Ankubu) on Coercion, who’s no- contest one of the most creative producers I’ve ever met; I legitimately think there are very few people around at his level. Biased appreciation of course, as we’ve known each other for way too long and he always treated me as an integral part of Ghost City’s family, but you should all check out his tracks if you haven’t.

5. Can you tell us about a song on this album that posed a unique challenge? How did you overcome it and bring it to life?

A: The entire album was a nightmare to write. I just could not find anything in me and it really brought me down to my knees; it’s not like I had to meet any kind of expectation or pressure from the label or my bandmate, but I was crushed by this empty horizon. For how much I tried to get back on the surface, I was never able to kick back, or just be fit for the everyday landscape I let myself get pulled into. So probably Thirst was the hardest one to get out, simply because it was the first one we worked on…

…and that’s where the secret recipe should come in, but I don’t have one for you. We simply pushed through, accepted pain as part of the process, and took it day by day. In hindsight, it was definitely a disaster for my mental health, but we got to an end result I would call “satisfying”.

6. What’s next for Torre di Fine? Are you working on any new music?

A: Nah, we are going to play a one-off show here in Italy and then we’ll take a big break to clean up our minds and work on other stuff. Ginger’s band Unethical Dogma is coming out with some cool stuff in the near future, I’ll get back to my sad electronic music and Matteo will retire to the woods.

Enjoy listening to Girl on the Shore here.

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