Inspired by Rimbaud’s poem, Ophelie, Bologna-based trio Ofeliadorme live up to their name. Seductive, tender, immersive, and shrouded in a mystery befitting ancient prose, theirs is a crossroads between the serenity of Cocteau Twins, Portishead’s emotive darkness, and PJ Harvey’s shape shifting pop qualities. It’s ambient, New Wave, dreamy, stargazing electronica. One part foggy warmth, another stark desperation, the results are truly unique, and utterly compelling.

Secret Fires is the result of a very specific choice, where three musicians decide that restraint can be far more effective than constant demonstrations of strength, in a total lack of selfishness. Michele Postpischl, a drummer with a delicate touch, Tato Izzia with his deep synths, and Francesca Bono’s velvet vocals, guitars and keyboards, aren’t afraid to show that vulnerability’s always lurking below the surface. A work of balance and depth. Secret Fires is all about what’s under the surface, it unfolds itself through images. As Howie B said: ‘Imagine someone running through the fields and getting bigger, bigger, BIGGER!!! Eight tracks, 8 like oxygen atomic number, that is to say, something we breath, something that makes life possible. The album is inspired by the complexity of both nature and human nature, by body prayers as well as the loneliness of the stars.