Aris Bassetti alias Mortòri, best known for his contributions with Peter Kernel, explores the disintegration of love, uncovers its fragility and dismantles illusions and unkept promises of relationships. The EP A Mort l’Amur gives us a taste of Mortòri’s despairing themes, but also a glimpse of the wild sound.
If there’s an apparent red thread here, it’s the Ticino dialect, an almost extinct language with a unique sound, like a mix of Italian and French. It may well be Bassetti’s crooning, but the vocals and the lyrics feel strangely familiar, foreign, archaic, and even ancient at the same time.
A Mort l’Amur, cunningly released on Valentine’s Day, introduces us to Mortòri’s vision in four tracks. The minimalistic, creeping Bordel is laced with orientalistic influences. A hint of darkness, a pinch of mystique. La Gata covers itself with a soft vintage cloth, coloured with a slightly psychedelic brush. Here, one of Bassetti’s influences, The Velvet Underground, bubbles distinctively up to the surface.
But the best track remains O l’Amur—unifying a wealth of musical styles into a thrilling and hot flash. And again, the Ticino dialect simply works perfectly with his amalgamation of African and Arabic influences.
GDC then pushes the breaks again; a ballad with strings, bordering at opulent but ultimately sticking with Mortòri’s reduced compositions. It’s the second thing that holds this EP stylistically together: All the songs display the musician’s no unnecessary bullshit attitude to the production. They remain simple, refrain from extravagance. Their straight-forward nature has almost a punkish vibe at times.
A Mort l’Amur is a short amuse bouche—only ten minutes long. But it’s the perfect introduction to Mortòri who will release the full-length debut album towards the end of the year. And if this EP is any indication, there are enough reasons to be excited for it.
Mortòri – A Mort l’Amur
Release: 14/02/2025
- Bordel
- La Gata
- O l'Amur
- GDC
