Damian Dalla Torre - Happy Floating (Squama)

What Your Ears Say & The Cover Looks Like

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What We Say

Quite a debut LP from Damian Dalla Torre for Squama Recordings as he leads 19 other musicians with his tenor sax & subtle electronic conducting to an orchestral nujazz meets cultured cinematic chillout hot spring & leaves a welcome sign post so we can all now soak & luxuriate in its therapeutic waters.

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What The Release Notes Say

Giving form to a broad personal project of deep contemplation and quiet emotionality, Happy Floating marks the debut album of South Tyrol-born, Leipzig-based musician Damian Dalla Torre on Munich imprint Squama Recordings. 
Conceived from sketches dating back several years and completed during 2020's moment of collective reflection, Happy Floating is a stunning result of genre collapsing and unexpected metamorphoses. A highly collaborative work, the record features contributions by nineteen musicians, including Ruth Goller, Alex Binder, Heidi Bayer, Theresia Philipp, Antonia Hausmann, Jan Roth, among others. 
Released in February 2022, this rich collage of field recordings, brass instruments, synth-strings and delicate sampling techniques oscillates between gentle familiarity and dreamlike distortions, inspiring a warmth that extends across time. Visually, this is underscored by Maximilian Schachtner’s uncanny cover artwork pairing a cotton-candied sunset with playful hand-drawn clouds next to an image of rustling plastic texture, applying the record’s theme of ambivalence to the vinyl sleeve. 
Throughout the record, Damian Dalla Torre seeks to explore a state of Happy Floating: in this pursuit, he remains self-aware of the fickle nature of carelessness, powerfully concentrating it in sonic form. 
Of the work, he says, "it's ambivalent–you are melancholic, but at the same time blatantly hopeful." Damian Dalla Torre's work encapsulates the collective feeling of a generation in challenging times, where a careful sense of optimism persists against the backdrop of an increasingly murky world outside one’s own four walls. This is reflected in the tonal shifts of Happy Floating: from the computerised yearning and levitating flutes on "Bolzano" to the shapeshifting "heyheyhey" and blissful organ chords erupting onto brass stabs on "Where To Go"; to the intriguing juxtaposition of analogue guitar plucks and piano experimentations against the call and response of the Casio synth on "8:45," and the unsettling drone of the album's closer, "SO," disrupting the expectation of settling into the ease of resolution. 
Buoyancy rises through the soaring melodies of the album’s title track “Alles Neu” like the symbolic phoenix from the ashes; a metaphor for the opportunities that arise with new beginnings. Euphoria may seem elusive, but in the determination to make peace with a world in flux, Damian Dalla Torre offers a compelling glimpse into an essential new artistic voice. 

Words by Caroline Whiteley  
CREDITS
7.23:
Damian Dalla Torre - clarinet, tenor saxophone, organ, synth 
Antonia Hausmann - trombone 
Bertram Burkert - acoustic guitar 
Volker Heuken - vibraphone, marimba 
Christian Dähne - electric bass 
Jan Roth - drums 

Alles Neu:
Lukas Diller - alto Saxophone 
Damian Dalla Torre - flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, organ, synth, electric guitar 
Antonia Hausmann - trombone 
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops 
Volker Heuken - vibraphone, marimba 
Alex Binder - electric bass 
Jan Roth - drums 

heyheyhey:
Heidi Bayer - trumpet 
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone 
Antonia Hausmann - trombone 
Damian Dalla Torre - organ, synth, electric guitar 
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops 
Beate Wiesinger - double bass  

Bolzano:
Damian Dalla Torre - flute, synth, organ 
Heidi Bayer - trumpet 
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone 
Antonia Hausmann - trombone 
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops, beat 
Ruth Goller - electric bass 

Where To Go:
Damian Dalla Torre - flute, organ, synth 
Heidi Bayer - trumpet 
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone 
Antonia Hausmann - trombone 
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops 
Arno Krokenberger - pipe organ 
Lorenz Heigenhuber - double bass 

8:45:
Damian Dalla Torre - clarinet, tenor saxophone, synth, electric guitar 
Antonia Hausmann - trombone 
Lukas Diller - baritone saxophone 
Bertram Burkert - acoustic guitar 
Markus Rom - electric guitar, tape loops 
Volker Heuken - vibraphone 
Johannes Bigge - piano 
Beate Wiesinger - double bass 
Lorenz Heigenhuber - double bass 
Jan Roth - drums 

Plastic Air:
Max Kraft - flügelhorn 
Damian Dalla Torre - harmonium, synth 
Johannes Bigge - piano 
Lorenz Heigenhuber - double bass 
Jan Roth - drums 

SO:
Theresia Philipp - alto saxophone 
Lukas Diller - baritone saxophone 
Damian Dalla Torre - synth 
Jonas Timm - mellotron 
Ruth Goller - electric bass 
Philipp Scholz - drums 


Composed & Produced by Damian Dalla Torre 
Mixed by André Karius at Nada SoundDesign 
Mastered by Martin Ruch at Control Room Berlin 
Photography by Damian Dalla Torre 
Illustration by Moriz Oberberger 
Design by Maximilian Schachtner at Daily Dialogue

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