Alessandro Cortini

Alessandro Cortini is now a sought-after and highly regarded professional, capable of moving seamlessly from his role with the legendary Nine Inch Nails to numerous collaborations, even producing albums for artists such as Jovanotti. Despite his many commitments, he still finds time to conceive and record solo projects that do not aim to dominate the charts, but rather to explore sonic and conceptual territories that would hardly find space elsewhere.

His first solo project, Sonoio, already reveals — through its very name — an urgent need to explore his own identity and creative ideas. In 2014, during the extensive Nine Inch Nails tour, Cortini began a new solo journey, inaugurated by Sonno (2014) and continued the following year with Risveglio.

Sonno was a nocturnal, blurred electronic album, marked by a slow drift into a dreamless sleep. Risveglio represents its natural continuation: while remaining within the realm of electronic experimentation, it broadens the expressive range of its predecessor. The album’s inspirations span from the krautrock of Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk to the cinematic electronic music of John Carpenter, and even to the modern soundscapes of Boards of Canada.

Cortini proves himself once again a master of sound manipulation and synthesizer use — the album’s sole instrument. The electronic drones gain power compared to Sonno: the music, free from notions of time and structure, seems to repeat itself endlessly yet, following minimalist principles, it slowly shifts, altering its apparent stillness until it transforms completely after just a few minutes, almost without the listener noticing.
Each track could, in theory, last forever — always the same, yet always different. It is the musician who decides when to begin and when to stop: what happens in between seems to unfold on its own, like a self-generating sonic process — an endless, hypnotic drone to which another is added moments later. The piece could continue indefinitely, but Cortini chooses to cut it off; Dormiveglia is emblematic, ending abruptly after less than a minute and leaving half a minute of silence behind.

The opening Stambecco immediately marks a shift from the previous album: a first synth drone is gradually joined by a second, creating a dizzying crescendo that eventually dissolves into electronic gusts. La sveglia stands as the centerpiece of the album, presented in two versions built around pulsing electronics distorted by subtle spatial reverbs. Rispetto is a brief, hypnotic drone, while Lotta plunges into deep sonic abysses reminiscent of Rafael Anton Irisarri’s apocalyptic soundscapes.
The very short Dormiveglia, with its Brian Eno-like opening, remains a fleeting, unfinished idea, abruptly cut short. La via and La meta are the most “Carpenterian” tracks, with a distinctly cinematic atmosphere and narrative pulse.

The journey continues through the remaining pieces, alternating between claustrophobic and more open, exuberant moments. Using only his two synthesizers, Cortini crafts a long, immersive sonic trip that never grows tiresome, writing one of the most significant pages of his career — and of electronic music in 2015.

06/12/2015