Category: Music

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Chiaroscuri: Ghost Works I

Chiaroscuri: Ghost Works was born from the desire to capture sonic snapshots, like photographs that freeze a unique moment in time. These collections will feature pieces mostly written in one or at most two voices, to highlight the instrument in its purest essence.
Each track is improvised to preserve the raw purity of instinct, with all its imperfections.

Chiaroscuri: Ghost Works nasce dal desiderio di registrare istantanee sonore, come fotografie che catturano un momento unico. Queste raccolte conterranno brani prevalentemente a una, o al massimo due voci, per valorizzare lo strumento nella sua essenza.
Ogni pezzo è improvvisato, per mantenere intatta la purezza dell’istinto, con tutte le sue imperfezioni.

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Drawing Shadows: Francis Gri & Wil Bolton NEW WORK

I am happy to share my new collaboration with Wil Bolton:

After Imaginary Tales and In Still Water, the collaboration between Wil Bolton and Francis Gri continues to explore new territories. 
Unlike the first two works, where the initial framework was created by Wil, this time the roles have been reversed—and surprisingly, the final result features sounds that are quite different from their previous efforts. 
Drawing Shadow is a collection of six tracks (for a total of 38 minutes) that blends ambient textures with minimal electronics in a dense album that takes the duo into darker, yet still delicate, territories. 
The sounds of this work transport the listener to that brief moment of the day when it’s not quite night yet, but the soul begins to embrace a more intimate breath—a breath in search of beauty, tranquility, and poetry, awaiting that moment of peace and calm before finally surrendering to dreams.

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Sasayaka

Always fascinated by the “shortform editions,” I’m happy to present, after Lull, a new miniature album: Sasayaka.
Seven small musical seeds gathered in sixteen minutes. It might sound paradoxical, I know, but those who, like me, are used to few words might understand this pursuit of essence, of the bare minimum.
What surprises me every time I listen back to works like this is how time seems to expand: a few minutes that stretch out, reaffirming the idea that time, after all, is a relative concept.

Sasayaka is a sonic journey made of imperceptible details that dance in the air like light leaves. Ethereal sounds, delicate as the first light of dawn, tiny fragments of emotion suspended in time.
Each track is a caress, a breath, a distant echo that brushes against the soul. Sasayaka is a celebration of the hidden joy found in small things, a whisper capable of containing infinity.

Recorded during the nights between February and March 2025, on a 4-track cassette recorder.

Sempre affascinato dal formato delle “shortform editions”, sono felice di presentare, dopo Lull, un nuovo album in miniatura: Sasayaka.
Sette piccoli semi musicali raccolti in sedici minuti. Può sembrare paradossale, lo so, ma chi, come me, è abituato a poche parole forse comprenderà questa ricerca dell’essenza, del minimo indispensabile.
Ciò che mi sorprende ogni volta, riascoltando lavori come questo, è come il tempo sembri dilatarsi: pochi minuti che si espandono, confermando l’idea che il tempo sia, in fondo, un concetto relativo.

Sasayaka è un viaggio sonoro fatto di dettagli impercettibili, che danzano nell’aria come foglie leggere. Suoni eterei, delicati come la prima luce dell’alba, minuscoli frammenti di emozione sospesi nel tempo.
Ogni traccia è una carezza, un soffio, un’eco lontana che sfiora l’anima. Sasayaka è la celebrazione della gioia nascosta nelle piccole cose, un sussurro capace di racchiudere l’infinito.

Registrato nelle notti tra febbraio e marzo 2025, su un registratore a cassette a 4 piste.

Sasayaka EP by Francis Gri

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Bruma (NEW ALBUM)

After the minimalist interlude of Svanire—a project that will certainly have a follow-up—I am continuing to explore the compositional path I embarked on with my recent works, Argine and While. In this journey, I seek to strike a delicate balance between intricate melodic textures and expansive, abstract soundscapes, allowing each element to breathe and evolve organically. 
The result is not just a collection of sounds but a true narrative experience: a soundtrack designed to accompany and enhance the atmosphere of a short story, which is included within the CD packaging. The music and the written word intertwine, creating an immersive dialogue between sonic and literary dimensions. 
For those who wish to read the story, I’m sharing the link below to access the digital version. I hope this project resonates with you and invites you into its world, where music and storytelling merge into a singular, evocative journey. 

Thank you, as always, for the time you dedicate to what I create with passion and love. 

Release date: February 27, 2025

Digital album: LINK

CD on demand:
PAYPAL LINK

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SVANIRE: the story

“Svanire” came about suddenly, shortly after finishing the recordings for what is the album that continues the path of Argine and While and which will likely see the light (probably under the title Bruma) during the cold winter of 2025.
Svanire is like a bolt from the blue, born from an idea of collaboration between myself and Andrew Chalk, an English artist much appreciated in the ambient music scene, especially for those who, like me, love a certain kind of delicate and fragile sound.
It is therefore a four-handed work where I contributed the piano recordings, and then Andrew took on the role of producer, bringing my notes into his studio and into his magical world. And magical was indeed the result, an album completed in less than a week. I find its strength in that minimalism I had been seeking for a long time, and which I perhaps had never dared to pursue. I could have added more instruments, the initial idea was exactly that, but after repeated listens, I decided not to ruin that initial spontaneity and to leave everything as it was, between notes and silence.
Even now, it remains the only album of mine that I listen to with the same pleasure with which I listen to albums by others, and I thank Andrew for giving me the key to access a world I hope to revisit in the future.
Svanire is also a story I had written at the beginning of the year, and it seemed to be waiting for this very album to come to light.
When Daisuke Suzuki, a friend of Andrew Chalk, asked me for some more information to give me the most suitable Kanji for the title, I spontaneously described the story like this: “I think the best way to describe the word ‘Svanire’ is a hidden and innate feeling of not belonging to this world, which starts from the soul and then touches every part of the body, slowly disappearing like a foggy day.”
To complete this work, I chose to use one of Andrew’s beautiful paintings as the artwork, which closes the circle of what represents a dream for me: having had the chance to work with an artist I have long admired.

Svanire nasce all’improvviso poco dopo aver concluso le registrazioni di quello che è l’album che prosegue il percorso di Argine e While e che vedrà la luce (molto probabilemente con il titolo Bruma) durante il freddo inverno del 2025.
Svanire è un fulmine a ciel sereno che nasce da un’idea di collaborazione tra me e Andrew Chalk, artista inglese molto apprezzato nel panorama ambient per chi ama come me un certo tipo di sonorità delicate e fragili.
Si tratta quindi di una lavoro a quattro mani dove io ho apportato le registrazioni di piano e poi Andrew ha agito da produttore, portando le mie note nel suo suo studio e nel suo mondo magico. E magico è stato appunto il risultato, un album finito in meno di una settimana. E trovo la sua forza in quel minimalismo che ricercavo da tempo e che forse non ho mai osato fare. Avrei potuto aggiungere altri strumenti, e l’idea iniziale era appunto quella, ma dopo ripetuti ascolti ho deciso di non rovinare quella spontaneità iniziale e di lasciare tutto così, tra note e silenzio. Tuttora rimane il mio unico album che ascolto con quel piacere che ascolto album di altri e ringrazio Andrew per avermi dato la chiave di accesso ad un mondo che spero di ripetere in futuro.
Svanire è un racconto che avevo scritto a inizio anno e che sembrava aspettare proprio questo album per vedere la luce.
Quando Daisuke Suzuki, amico di Andrew Chalk, mi chiese qualche informazione in più per potermi dare il Kanji più adatto al titolo mi venne spontaneo descrivere così il racconto: “penso che il modo migliore per descrivere la parola Svanire sia una sensazione nascosta e innata di non essere parte di questo mondo che inizia dall’anima e poi tocca ogni parte del corpo e lentamente scompare come una giornata nebbiosa”.
A completare questo lavoro ho voluto utilizzare come artwork un bellissimo quadro di Andrew che chiude il cerchio di quello che per me rappresenta un sogno: aver potuto lavorare con un artista che ammiro da tempo.

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Svanire (NEW ALBUM)

Svanire, the Italian word for “vanishing,” is a 44-minute piano and electric piano suite, divided into four tracks that guide the listener through an intimate and reflective sonic journey. The work is minimal and skeletal in its essence, built around eloquent silences and fragile, almost suspended notes that evoke the melancholic hues of autumn. Each note seems to dissolve into the air, like leaves in the wind, creating an atmosphere of rarefied beauty. 
The strength of this piece lies precisely in its simplicity, which never feels trivial thanks to the meticulous production by Andrew Chalk. With his unique and hypnotic touch, Andrew has brought to life a sound that amplifies and enhances the delicate nature of the compositions, enriching them with emotional depth. Every sonic detail is carefully crafted, creating a balance between emptiness and fullness, between sound and silence, making the listening experience unique and immersive. 
Accompanying the music is a short story, a narrative that intertwines with the notes, creating a subtle dialogue between words and sound. The artwork, generously provided by Andrew Chalk, is not just a visual frame but a perfect representation of the atmosphere evoked by the album: an image that, like the music, seems to dissolve and vanish, capturing the fleeting nature of the moment. The choice of colors and visual forms engages with the sonic tones, further enriching the overall sensory experience. 
A special thanks goes to Daisuke Suzuki, who contributed the Kanji translation of the word Svanire, adding another layer of cultural and symbolic meaning to this work. The Kanji translation is not just a linguistic transposition but a bridge between cultures, reflecting the universality of the theme of vanishing and impermanence. 

Release date: November 9, 2024

Album Preview: LINK

CD Special Offer without shipping cost:
PAYPAL LINK
(The offer will be active until the album is released on Bandcamp)

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Ambient

When music enters your skin in such a forceful way, giving oxygen to your blood, you slowly start a research journey that will never end. You start to explore musical genres in a transversal direction like a vagabond moving from one country to another, driven simply by the search for beauty. You are never satisfied and always look for something new and different that gives you transcendental sensations. This is, in my opinion, what best characterizes the true soul of the sound researcher, and I consider myself among them, before even a musician.
In the past, I have often been pointed out by those I consider conservative listeners (not to say obtuse), criticizing ambient or experimental music as non-music. This is for me a superficial and totally false judgment. Personally, I believe that every self-respecting music is and must be simply well made. When it is, then it is MUSIC.
Speaking of ambient, you enter a vast territory with a language that however is not for everyone. It is something that touches your strings immediately, of which you either fall in love or get irritated by its lack of stakes. I remember as a kid, when I was listening to other musical genres like metal or progressive, I was in love with some intros of some songs to the point that I wanted them to repeat indefinitely, to the point of finding the continuum of those songs almost ruining everything done before. A forcing and a waste. Until I discovered ambient and it was love at first sight.
Listening to this genre is like taking music and listening to it under a microscope, savoring every molecule. There is a desire for minimalism of the soul that leads to this love. It is something indefinable in words, so it is useless to project yourself into brainy challenges and sounds of television debate with those who denigrate and criticize this genre. Very often those who listen to ambient love and listen to many other genres while instead those who listen to rock, metal or any other genre fossilize exclusively on that type of music, never changing perspective and looking at their own world always from the same angle.
So what’s the point of arguing with them? As a person I knew years ago often said: “it’s useless to make a donkey answer the phone, it won’t answer you anyway”. I think this description gives a very good idea.

Quando la musica entra nella tua pelle in maniera così prepotente, dando ossigeno al tuo sangue, lentamente inizi un percorso di ricerca che mai si interromperà. Inizi ad esplorare generi musicali in direzione trasversale come un vagabondo che si muove tra un paese e l’altro, spinto semplicemente dalla ricerca del bello. Non ti accontenti mai e cerchi sempre qualcosa di nuovo e diverso che ti regali sensazioni trascendentali. Questo è, secondo me, quello che caratterizza al meglio la vera anima del ricercatore sonoro, ed io mi considero tra quelli, prima ancora di un musicista.
In passato sono stato spesso additato da quelli che considero ascoltatori conservatori (per non dire ottusi), criticando la musica ambient o sperimentale come non musica. Questo è per me un giudizio superficiale e totalmente falso. Personalmente, credo che ogni musica che si rispetti è e deve essere fatta semplicemente bene. Quando è così, allora è MUSICA. Parlando di ambient, si entra in un territorio vastissimo con un linguaggio che però non è per tutti. È qualcosa che ti sfiora le corde da subito, di cui o ti innamori o ti irrita per la sua assenza di riferimenti. Ricordo che da ragazzino, quando ascoltavo altri generi musicali come il metal o il progressive, ero innamorato di alcuni intro di alcuni brani a tal punto che avrei voluto si ripetessero all’infinito, a tal punto da trovare il continuum di quei brani quasi un rovinare tutto quello fatto prima. Una forzatura e uno spreco. Finché non scoprii l’ambient e fu amore a prima vista.
Ascoltare questo genere è come prendere la musica ed ascoltarla al microscopio, assaporandone ogni molecola. C’è un desiderio di minimalismo dell’anima che porta a questo amore. È un qualcosa di indefinibile a parole, inutile quindi proiettarsi in cervellotiche sfide e suoni di dibattito televisivo con chi denigra e critica questo genere. Molto spesso chi ascolta ambient ama e ascolta anche tanti altri generi mentre invece chi ascolta rock, metal o qualsivoglia altro genere si fossilizza esclusivamente su quel tipo di musica, senza mai cambiare prospettiva e guardando il proprio mondo sempre dalla stessa angolazione. Che senso ha quindi discutere con loro? Come spesso diceva una persona conosciuta anni fa: “inutile far rispondere un asino al telefono, tanto non ti risponderà”. Penso che questa descrizione renda benissimo l’idea.

 

 

 

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Le tissage des rêves: Collaboration Album by Toàn & Francis Gri

I’m very happy to introduce my first collaboration with the French composer Toàn available now in digital and physical format.

When I approach a collaboration, I always feel a mix of curiosity and fear. Working remotely, it’s not easy to communicate your thoughts with your collaborator, and often the risk of misunderstandings or tensions can lead to ruining the simple initial idea of blending your musical worlds together. 
In recent years, I’ve been fortunate to work with people who share the same way of experiencing music, and I must say that this new collaboration with Anthony Elfort is part of this positive trend. “Le tissage des reves” is the first collaboration with the sound of Toàn, whom I got to know by publishing his album Phonolite for Krysalisound in 2022. I consider Anthony one of the most talented musicians I have met so far, with an ability to create musical collages of infinite beauty and extraordinary compositions, and I feel extremely honored to have had the chance to enter his world. 
It’s an album of a dreamy nature that blends electroacoustic, ambient, jazz, and electronic sounds in nine medium-length tracks to accompany the listener to those delicate and suffused territories that only dreams can offer. 
I don’t know if there will be new chapters with Anthony in the future, but for sure, “Le tissage des reves” will remain for a long time among my most successful collaborations.

Release date: June 7, 2024 

– All music by Anthony Elfort and Francis Gri 
– Recorded between Cruguel (FR) and Milan (IT) in 2023-2024 
– Mixing & Mastering: Francis Gri 
– Artwork and design: FG

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Valley of Languages: Collaboration Album by Xu & Francis Gri

It’s a pleasure to announce my first collaboration with the Italian composer Xu (project of Nicola Fornasari).
“Valley of Languages” will be released on May 18 by the English label Whitelabrecs.

‘Valley of Languages’ is the brainchild of these two musicians who, despite having never met in person, found themselves sharing and understanding the same musical space; which became the inspiration for the album title and its concept. This album is not just a collection of songs; it’s a collaborative exploration of diversity and emotional resonance. It serves as a metaphorical meeting point where diverse musical languages and techniques converge, creating a rich tapestry of sound that transcends geographical boundaries. This album comprises six tracks, each a testament to the harmonious collaboration between two minds separated by distance, but united by a similar way of seeing and perceiving things. 

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Lull

I’m happy to share this little sound miniature called “Lull”

“Lull” is the first in a series of micro-albums that I will release in the future. The main characteristic of these works is to focus the essence of an album into the duration of an EP. Each track will be conceived as small musical haiku, compositional sketches aimed at the search for purity and poetry. I like the idea of ​​working by enhancing the small, the little, and spontaneity, in a world where instead the exact opposite is desperately sought. “Lull” is a dedication to my daughter and her first months of life, when sleeping was still her primary activity. Thanks to anyone who desires to be lulled by this first sound miniature.