Spiral69

From Italy, darkly, comes Spiral69, a band who effortlessly capture the essence of doomed romance with a sense of passion and euphoria, an eye on the epic, and an ear for the cynical. They love. They hate. And this is their story... On returning from a concert by The Cure in 1992, a young Riccardo Sabetti immediately concludes his destiny is to be a musician, a single-minded and passionate decision that will change his entire life, and set in motion an increasingly sophisticated and successful journey into sounds, textures and emotions. His first achievement comes in 2001 with the release of "Fiori 0.2", the debut album by Pixel, an industrial project that sees Richard as writer, guitarist and vocalist. He later worked with the dark-wave band Argine until 2007 when his dream of finally creating a solo project was realized. Spiral69 was born... The debut album, on Megasound, was 'A Filthy Lesson for Lovers', which gathered excellent reviews in a wide range of publications. An exhausting series of promotional concerts followed, where Riccardo was accompanied by Enzo Russo on guitar, Andrea Freda (from the band Spiritual Front) on drums, and Licia Missori on piano. In 2010, Spiral69 supported Love Amongst Ruin, the project by ex-Placebo drummer Steve Hewitt, on their tour of Italy. The collaboration between the two bands has continued, culminating in the thrilling recent single and video 'Exile of the Heart'. March 2011 saw the band release their highly anticipated follow-up album, the critically acclaimed 'No Paint on the Wall', which cemented the public perception of Riccardo and Spiral69 in the press across Europe. A wide-ranging promotional tour followed as well as videos created for the songs 'Love is for Losers' and 'Best Porno', both of which have clocked up nearly 200,000 views on You Tube. The band then performed a duet with Tying Tiffany, on the song 'The Girl Who Dances Alone at the Disco'. They were also chosen by Lou Reed to be part of his first film/documentary 'Red Sherly', and Spiral69 were more than happy to provide the song 'Berlin' for this project. In April 2013, the momentum was upheld with the release of the album 'Ghosts in my Eyes', a solid, thrilling set of songs showing continued maturing of the Spiral69 sound. It was released on the Italian label Helikonia, and produced by Steve Hewitt (Placebo / Love Amongst Ruin) and mixed by Paul Corkett (who has sound engineered for Nick Cave, Radiohead, The Cure and Bjork). In the live arena, Spiral69 were one of the few Italian bands to play at 2012's Wave Gothic Treffen in Leipzig, one of the most important alternative music festivals in Europe. Asked to play again in 2015, the band agreed and performed an electric set to a hugely enthusiastic crowd. They have also played in places as diverse as Warsaw and Kiev (at the 'Children of the Night' Festival). 'Alone', a mini album released in 2014, merged the sounds of new-wave, rock, folk and synth-pop, and was produced by Riccardo and released on his newborn label Rehab Records. It was mastered by Frank Arkright (who worked with Joy Division, The Smiths, New Order and Editors) at the world-famous studios of Abbey Road, in the UK. The album was awarded 8.5/10 by Reflections of Darkness magazine, and described as being full "of love, hate, torment and all the bits in between... dealing with the birth, evolution and death of a relationship, rolling out joy, hope and despair neatly and concisely over six dark electro-rock ballads". Work is progressing at a rapid rate on the next full-length album, and there are plans for Spiral69 to make their UK debut later in 2015 in a series of headline shows.