For a lot of folks, recent times have put a new perspective on our surroundings. Some longed for sunny beaches in distant lands, some took up new hobbies, and most were confined to the spaces around them. And some, like Lowtopic, found themselves discovering their own neighborhood. Born & raised in this exact city, yet somehow still a stranger. Bunkering down gave him new insights to his surroundings, experiencing moments that might have been previously overlooked. These are the tales from the neighborhood of Maddalena in Genova, Italy.

 Raising his hometown flag high, Genova born-and-raised multi-talent family man Lowtopic opens his first album with a sweet and sober number, fluttering its way in gently before delivering a heavy warm drive. ‘Blu’ gives a small glimpse of what’s to come, like seeing a picture of a sunset you took, you are thrown back into that moment in time for a brief second. This is that, but over 5 minutes’ worth. A triumph of sound and emotion to say the least. The mood continues with the optimistic ‘Otago’, which plays out like a fond memory of an innocent time, and in fact could be inspired by such – we’ll never truly know. ‘Mate’ starts to take us into deeper waters, with a smooth low end pushing up delicate instrumentals and brazen brassy synth swells. We’ve come now to the title track, the namesake of the journey we find ourselves in. A lush soundscape of creamy tones and emotional rhythmic accents thrown in throughout. “Maddalena”. There’s a bittersweet fondness to be felt here, something that feels a lot like coming home. We’re slowly brought back to earth with ‘Emi’, a gentle dive into a synthesizer dream and then waking up gently with a warm piano riff against a rising bed of percussive presence. Floating onto ‘Garcia’ we are shaken awake with a deliciously moody dance number. This is the late night breakfast, pancakes at midnight to shake things up a bit and set us up for a fantastic club night. If ‘Garcia’ was the setup, then ‘Neve’ is that club night – when all the right people are there at the right time. Magic happens, every time. Put that in a bottle and you’ve got ‘Neve’. Gorgeous strings, driving low end, brilliant flow… aka magic. Now finally, together with ‘Paoli’, we begin to ride off into the sunset across a dusty landscape. Cut the lights. Drop the bass. ‘Paoli’ delivers to us one more powerful dive into the depths of the night, one last satisfying starry car ride with the bass turned to 11. Full throttle, driving like we stole it.

 If this is life for Lowtopic now, then I can’t wait to see what life brings next. ‘Maddalena’ feels like more than home, it feels almost like family – if you were to put that feeling into music. Optimism, positivity, and love in the form of music.