Italian duo Not Me But Us release their debut album Two via Sonic Cathedral on March 22. It’s a stunning record and proof that when two very different musicians meet it’s always possible for magic to happen.

This is very much the case with Bruno Bavota (the acclaimed Naples-based pianist and composer) and Fabrizio Somma (an electronic producer who releases music under the moniker K-Conjog) and their new collaboration. It blends both of their influences with added echoes of ambient, techno, 2000s club culture, post-classical and vague hints of post-rock, forming a soundtrack of their musical union.

‘Interlocking Mechanics’ was the first song they wrote and when, according to Bruno, it became clear that “all the sounds were in the right place”. So, instead than the rather cold and functional implication of the title, this slowly building beauty is actually the sound of something coming to life. The closing track, the elegiac ‘Us’, was the second piece of music they made, and is a similarly perfect mix of their styles.
“It’s a nice combination and the good thing is that it’s a really new way to make music for the both of us,” says Bruno. “It’s hard to say how we came up with it together or who does what. We both believe that we’ve a common feeling about how to look for pure and sincere emotions.”

He’s right, despite the wordless nature of the eight tracks here, they are a testament to their ability to translate raw emotion into a musical journey, forging a connection that goes beyond sound. It takes us from the ambience of opener ‘No Words’, via the floaty ‘Inner Space’ and the B. Fleischmann-inspired ‘Buildings’ to the hymnal ‘In A Box’, the darker and more mysterious ‘Nocturnal Humans’ and the single ‘When We See’ which combines ethereal synths with skittering beats to great effect. It’s called Two, simply because it is just the two of them.

The series of seemingly random events that finally pushed them together in the “fragmented” Naples music scene and then led them to working with Sonic Cathedral simply adds to the record’s gravitas.

Back at the start of 2020 as the Covid pandemic tore through Italy, Bruno locked down at home in Naples and made music. In addition to his usual piano-based pieces, he experimented with electronics and the result – released the following year by the Brooklyn-based label Temporary Residence as For Apartments: Songs & Loops – was one of the records that soundtracked my grief after losing my mum. We got talking on Instagram and Bruno sent me some tracks by a new project.

The collaboration with Fabrizio had come about because a local promoter had essentially forced then to work together for an event on the island of Procida in November 2022 as part of its celebrations as Italian Capital of Culture. They got on well and, while they were there, on a wall, saw a sign that read “not me but us”. Several months of music-making and Mario Kart later, here they are, making up for lost time.
“Here in Naples, 20 years ago, it was difficult to find someone who I could talk to about certain records,” concludes Fabrizio. “What we heard back then is in our music now and I’m convinced that this is only the beginning of a journey and we don’t know yet where it will take us.”