Giving form to a broad personal project of deep contemplation and quiet emotionality, Happy Floating marks the debut album of South Tyrol-born, Leipzig-based musician Damian Dalla Torre on Munich imprint Squama Recordings. Conceived from sketches dating back several years and completed during 2020's moment of collective reflection, Happy Floating is a stunning result of genre collapsing and unexpected metamorphoses. A highly collaborative work, the record features contributions by nineteen musicians, including Ruth Goller, Alex Binder, Heidi Bayer, Theresia Philipp, Antonia Hausmann, Jan Roth, among others.
Released in February 2022, this rich collage offield recordings, brass instruments, synth-strings and delicate samplingtechniques oscillates between gentle familiarity and dreamlike distortions,inspiring a warmth that extends across time. Visually, this is underscored byMaximilian Schachtner’s uncanny cover artwork pairing a cotton-candied sunsetwith playful hand-drawn clouds next to an image of rustling plastic texture,applying the record’s theme of ambivalence to the vinyl sleeve.
Throughout the record, Damian Dalla Torre seeks to explore a state of HappyFloating: in this pursuit, he remains self-aware of the fickle nature ofcarelessness, powerfully concentrating it in sonic form.
Of the work, he says, "it's ambivalent–you are melancholic, but at thesame time blatantly hopeful." Damian Dalla Torre's work encapsulates thecollective feeling of a generation in challenging times, where a careful senseof optimism persists against the backdrop of an increasingly murky worldoutside one’s own four walls. This is reflected in the tonal shifts of HappyFloating: from the computerised yearning and levitating flutes on"Bolzano" to the shapeshifting "heyheyhey" and blissfulorgan chords erupting onto brass stabs on "Where To Go"; to theintriguing juxtaposition of analogue guitar plucks and piano experimentationsagainst the call and response of the Casio synth on "8:45," and theunsettling drone of the album's closer, "SO," disrupting theexpectation of settling into the ease of resolution.
Buoyancy rises through the soaring melodies of the album’s title track “AllesNeu” like the symbolic phoenix from the ashes; a metaphor for the opportunitiesthat arise with new beginnings. Euphoria may seem elusive, but in thedetermination to make peace with a world in flux, Damian Dalla Torre offers acompelling glimpse into an essential new artistic voice.
Words by Caroline Whiteley
Lineup
Heidi Bayer - trumpet
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone
Antonia Hausmann - trombone
Damian Dalla Torre - organ, synth, electric guitar
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops
Beate Wiesinger - double bass
Ruth Goller - electric bass
Volker Heuken - vibraphone, marimba
Alex Binder - electric bass
Jan Roth - drums
