KATIE BROWN - 13 JULY 2021

Self-described as ‘neo-folk for a darkened cinema’, otherworldly brother-sister duo Lumo Morte certainly know how to cast a spell over their listeners with their haunting brand of dark folk. Reminiscent of the likes of Julee Cruise and This Mortal Coil, their music is delicate and gentle, yet weighty, beguiling and substantial all at the same time. Siblings Alicia and Bruno Merz are responsible for Lumo Morte’s musical alchemy, with Alicia’s ethereal vocals layered over Bruno’s lush and intricate arrangements and production.

My Underground is their first EP as a duo and consists of an offering of three equally outstanding tracks “My Underground”, “All the Eyes” and “Somewhere in This Town”. Cinematic and broad-spanning in their scope, their musical feel is, as they say, “On a warm rainy night, David Lynch meets Ennio Morricone in a hazy, blue and red lit underground bar called 'Noir'.” Imagine a cross between Twin Peaks, Cinema Paradiso and The Virgin Suicides, and My Underground is a snapshot of the resulting soundtrack.

With Alicia growing up with a devotion to poetry and old books and Bruno fascinated by orchestras and European cinema, it’s easy to see why the music the pair make together is so rich, intricate and elevating. Part of its charm is that it is so difficult to pigeonhole into one genre, and this is the result of it being the collision, or rather, the entwining, of two exceptional artists who both make remarkably beautiful music in their own musical spheres as solo acts - New Zealand-based Alicia as Birds Of Passage (Denovali), and Canada-based Bruno under his own name as Bruno Merz.

Bruno’s music calls to mind the likes of Nick Drake and Iron and Wine, but his knack of tempering classic folk and Americana stylings with unobtrusive electronic and ambient elements elevates it into a magical territory all its own. Via Birds Of Passage, Alicia paints fragile ambient soundscapes in the sculpting of drone-like layers to give them softly undulating form and structure, her ethereal vocals riding in layers above like an eerie celestial presence reaching down to brush the earth.

You can hear the fusion of Alicia and Bruno’s individual styles as they weave them together in Lumo Morte, but their weaving is such that it’s like looking at a painting rather than interwoven threads, so seamless and natural is their approach - there is nothing that feels mismatched or out of place about it. Often a collaboration can cause one artist to meld a little more into the styling of another, but in Lumo Morte it is more that both have provided the ingredients for a uniquely deep and rich whole - and it really, really works well. Layered, reverbed guitars and classical orchestral elements are satisfyingly paired with gorgeously lush synth pads and bass lines, and with Alicia’s mesmerising vocals hovering above the effect is spine-tingling and transporting.

Both Alicia and Bruno have achieved critical acclaim in their own work, with Bruno’s single “For You Now” featuring in the Hollywood film Life As We Know It, while song “Nine Sixteen” was chosen as Starbucks Pick of the Week throughout the U.S. and Canada. Alongside working as a film composer on various independent projects, Bruno also composed a 40 minute score for children’s ballet production Tortoise and the Hare, which toured the UK with over 100 shows. Similarly, Birds of Passage has a niche and devoted following and has seen Alicia tour the world twice, giving her the opportunity to collaborate with other artists within her genre and garnering attention from the likes of Ridley Scott, among others, in considering her music for film.

My Underground is a little bit special, and over these ways we can’t wait to hear a full LP from the outstandingly talented pair.

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