Fantastic review on CARNOV about Chromelove!
GOLD RATING 10/10!
And it includes my interview and some extra inserts about my lovely girl Powder Slut (Yana Mesha) and my great friend Nightcrawler (George Gold)!

Vincenzo Salvia’s latest EP called ‘Chromelove‘ was released yesterday through Italian label Doner Music! This 5-track EP is available to download through iTunes ($3.99 @ 45mb total), Spotify, Bandcamp(stream only) and Soundcloud (player below). Tracks are purchasable at any time by clicking the buy/cart button through Soundcloud’s streaming player. The gorgeous cover art design was created by George Gold aka Nightcrawler!

The interview with Vincenzo is further below – in the interview you will discover how this release is autobiographical and has quite the cool story involving a certain female Synthwave artist 😀

REVIEW BY: JARED LECKIE

TRACK # 1 – ‘Chromelove’
COMMENTARY – Without knowing the story beforehand, I find the title track ‘Chromelove’ feels like a desperate struggle between two people at some sort of standstill in their relationship. It’s moving, impactful and overflowing with lush filmic synths – just beautiful. Although obscured, the vocoder effects are enjoyable to hear and have a deep sense of yearning for connection.

This track is very replayable with a catchy drumbeat intro that quickly escapades to an engaging arrangement of amorous synths and with cool vocoder effects that take centre stage – it’s a fantastic track!

TRACK # 2 – ‘Obsession’
COMMENTARY – The mood takes a turn to a more vibrant positive feel and fittingly infused with passionate ‘I want you’ synths. The lunging takeoff from 1:07 secs has a great effect and gets better with continuous funky beats until we hit 2:38 where the synths become focused like rapid-fire – really cool!

TRACK # 3 – ‘Manikins’
COMMENTARY – Now this has great energy and melody with a flavour of Outrun/cruising to the sounds. The driving beats are determined and very positive as if a barrier was just broken through. As the track develops, this feeling becomes more pronounced and as always you can really feel the impact with volume up high!

TRACK # 4 – ‘Metamorphosis’
COMMENTARY – My first impression for favourites on this EP was this track and the ‘Chromelove‘ title track. I have a difficult time in deciding which track is the winner as they are both stellar in their own way. ‘Metamorphosis‘ plays an important part of the story with the transformation from manikins to human (see interview for info on this…) – the track has a sophisticated impact with a cool ethereal feel and that drop from 45 secs. onwards has great synth power! I especially like this track as a fan of epic guitar+synths action. The intro really grabs the listener with sounds that reminded me of the creatures under the sea, it feels magical! For fun, a video track is below with a underwater scene as if we went out into the sea as shown in the background of the cover artwork 😀

TRACK # 5 – ‘Renaissance’
COMMENTARY – A perfect synth package! The intro synths have that familiar sci-fi vibe which quick transitions of pace but yet with a smoothness that’s really appealing. The feeling is overall  positive with synths that feeling challenging but break through with wild success.

This EP is very well composed and this is the type of Synthwave where you can really connect to the music – especially since the production was based on real life! Vincenzo is at the top not just because of musical skill/talent, but because his music in most cases is close to his heart – it’s real, deeply emotive and just plain beautiful. GOLD Rating 10/10 – This is a very fine release and look forward to see what comes next from Vincenzo and his new partner in life.

CARNOV INTERVIEW

Q1 /// JARED – Can you please introduce yourself to those that may be new to your work?
VINCENZO – I’m a musician from Italy, born in 1983. I entered into the synthwave scene in 2012 with my first Outrun EP called Voyage. Since that moment I always try to improve and give new energy to my music. I jump from pure synthwave to authentic Italo Disco, mixing them and trying to give my own touch in every track. I love when the listeners don’t expect which style will be the next release!

***** JARED’S INSERT – You can listen to his very first synthwave album “Voyage” in the player below. This album is available as a FREE download! *****

Q2 /// JARED –  You have stated in the past that most of your music is autobiographical. ‘Chromelove‘ feels deeply romantic with a sense of struggle and filled with a yearning for connection. Can you explain how this EP ties in with some of your own experiences and if not personal then could you explain the story?
VINCENZO – There is an unique story behind this album. I feel like something magic was happening in my life. In the late spring I started to write the music and everything was written by itself: it tells about these manikins in the artwork, man and woman, which can’t touch each other. Then In August I stumbled into the biggest love of my life, Yana, an Ukrainian girl, synthwave composer famous as Powder Slut. For 4 months we only talked in webcam every day and every night, just like those two manikins, and… one week before the release I went to Kiev finally! This seems a love story written by the fate!

***** JARED’S INSERT – Powder Slut aka Yana Mesha is a talented synthwave artist with a number of singles available for your listening pleasure. Her tracks are consistently well received including hits such as ‘Shadow Agents‘ from Jean-Pierre Van Damme’s ‘END OF DAYS’ compilation and her most recent track ‘Mirage’ which was released just yesterday! Powder Slut is known for her rich dark brooding atmosphere – you can listen to ‘Mirage‘ in the player below. *****

Q3 /// JARED –  Actually, I find that I can really connect to these tracks without necessarily knowing the story in the first place. As mentioned in the review, the title track ‘Chromelove’ feels like a desperate struggle between two people at some sort of standstill in their relationship. It’s moving, impactful and overflowing with lush filmic synths – just beautiful. What was your goal for the Chromelove EP? How would you describe the listening experience? 
VINCENZO – This is why I wanted to arrange this album as instrumental. It must be more imaginative. I wanted that every ambience appears even without reading titles or listening to the words. The title track is my favourite, I must admit it! And the desperate struggle is evident here, the passion of love destroy their souls, then they start to feel obsessed and they move smoothly, until they change their aspect to become human.

Q4 /// JARED –  I first discovered your work with your 3-track EP ‘Summer Love’ released last year through Telefuture Records. As a fan of 80’s Italo artists like Sabrina Salerno I remember being completely captivated by the title track with an arrangement that really emphasized the excellent and very 80’s style vocals. Since then you’ve released some stunning works and I wanted to ask how you feel you’ve evolved as an artist since last year? 
VINCENZO – Lots of things changed in my style, I will never abandone my Italo, because it’s the one which I grew up with! But the sequel of “Summer Love” was already different from the first episode. “Summer Love One Year Later” was more nostalgic and romantic, I was influenced by the summer Vanzina’s movies! Also Italo and vocals are always great together, I love how vocals give it that light “pop” style!

***** JARED’S INSERT – ‘Summer Love‘ originally released on August 20th 2013 through Telefuture Records and was a major hit in the Synthwave community. You can listen below for reference. This EP is available as FREE/Name-Your-Price release! *****

Q5 /// JARED – This cover art is richly-filled with symbolism in an appealing symmetrical design and with a great sense of depth – can you explain the design process here and the meaning of the camera/mannequins? Who was the designer?
VINCENZO – The art concept started from the vision I had of two manikins with Polaroid-heads, so I asked to my dear friend George Gold to realize the artwork. I imagined them standing in an elegant room with a retrofuturistic mood and I am a fan of surrealism of Dalì, Magritte and De Chirico. George hit the goal perfectly! CLICK HERE to view artwork portfolio showcase.

***** JARED’S INSERT – George Gold is a popular and well regarded graphics artist by day and Synthwave artist at night! He is Night Crawler! *****

///// GEORGE GOLD WEB LINKS
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.nightcrawlermusic.com/
DESIGN STUDIO WEBSITE: http://www.medusateam.com
BANDCAMP: http://nightcrawler.bandcamp.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/nightcrawlermusic
SOUNDCLOUD: http://soundcloud.com/nightcrawlermusic
TUMBLR: http://vestroncorp.tumblr.com
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/georgeGold79
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/Nightcrawlermusic79

Q6 /// JARED – My favourite track on the EP is Metamorphosis because of it’s sophisticated impact with a cool ethereal feel and that drop from 45 secs. onwards has great synth power – guitar rocks too! I wanted to ask your inspiration and any background info for this track as this really stands out to me?
VINCENZO – Everything started from the bassline here, then I started to modulate the pads on it, so the melodies came at last as I almost always do. But that bassline inspired me so different emotions and those moving pads were really powerful in my mind. Probably some Jarre influences here too, and I decided to add those guitars to give more and more power!

Q7 /// JARED – What is the best way to keep up with your latest updates? Also, with 2014 coming to a close what can we expect from you in the new year?
VINCENZO – My website www.vincenzosalvia.com and my facebook page are always updated about every news! I will come back with a sequel of Chromelove probably! This love story has a real sequel again now! And I need to make some new Italo for this summer, who knows, maybe another episode of Summer Love!

///// VINCENZO SALVIA ON THE WEB
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.vincenzosalvia.com/
BANDCAMP: http://vincenzosalvia.bandcamp.com/
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/vincenzosalviamusic
SOUNDCLOUD: https://soundcloud.com/vincenzo-salvia
TUMBLR: http://vincenzosalvia.tumblr.com/
TWITTER: http://twitter.com/vincenzo_salvia
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/user/alienatiomentis