Costume – La Disciplina Dell’Anima

Change, experimentation, going forward with a new direction, seem to be the themes of “La Disciplina Dell’Anima” (The Discipline Of The Soul). And changes are many here, indeed. A duo no more, Costume becomes the solo effort of MauSS presenting instrumental music between psychedelic rock, noir and jazzy tunes, nightly ambiances and even harsher takes.

If the previous recent efforts dived their attention between 90’s elements, punk attitudes, piano-bar songs and electro-house pastiches, now an intimate and “inward” atmosphere permeates Costume’s soundscape. That said, more extrovert and rhythmic passages are not forfeit, albeit a minority amidst MauSS’ nocturnal exercises.

If “Drunk Night” sets its tone with its jazzy loops and ambient drones before exploding with elegant  motives that wouldn’t be alien elements in an 80’s motion pictures, “Full Of Colours” sounds like a mix between The Fragile-era Nine Inch Nails and world-music underlined by eerie effects.

“Ghost In The Dreams” is a game of suspense and restrained tension, sporting tasty synth lines and guitar sounds recalling late 90’s Depeche Mode, and “Airy Winds” intermixes solemn harmonies with industrial-tinged distortions.

“The Darkest Dreams” gives us another instrumental electro-rock episode with grandiose marching rhythms and ominous cinematic soundscapes, “Dancing In A dark Smart Club” despite its name is a  joyous house track with strong French-touch influences recalling Costume’s past, and “Night Blues Night” is an intriguing  “mechanical ballad” made of crawling guitars and obsessive loops characterized by emotive climaxes.

“Dirty Forest” surprises us with dark ambient field-recordings in a short experience that works as an introduction to the final track “Noizepsycho Song”, a drone affair with sharp distortions and deafening dissonance.

“La Disciplina Dell’Anima” is a shredding of skin, a passage and ritual for Costume. Probably the most personal effort from MauSS, the lack of vocal patterns gives free-reign to his experimental tendencies. As always with this project we find an idiosyncratic attitude toward music with free-form structures and more traditional songwriting, as well as underground sounds and stream-lined moments. We will see how things will evolve for Costume and if this is the terrain for a new foundation.

Release date: January 15, 2023

Text by: Davide Pappalardo.