Mana is Daniele Mana’s latest project which recently found its home in the legendary London- based Hyperdub.

His works feature unpredictable evolutions and a unique taste for melodies. He writes and produces for theatre, film and advertising alongside his artistic projects such as Vaghe Stelle, One Circle, an ensemble formed by Mana, Lorenzo Senni and Francesco Fantini, and his latest project, Mana, recently debuted with an album on the iconic Hyperdub.

After his 2017 debut EP for Hyperdub, “Creature”, which was a taut, evocative suite of beatless, almost neo-classical electronics, his sequent two albums find his music has caught an alien virus and started hallucinating. “Seven Steps Behind” sounds like musical world-building rather than straightforward songwriting. Here the borders between reality and the weird have collapsed on each other, and with each listen through its zigzagging course, you’re rewarded by its strange twists and turns.

His music is electronic that doesn’t always sound electronic; a great deal of his sound has been created to sound like prepared pianos, harpsichords, cellos and flutes. At other times, sampled acoustic instruments and specially recorded sessions have
been processed through software and careful editing. It’s this sophisticated layering of contrasting versions of the same sources that helps give this record its uncanny balance. The album also plays with your sense of time in its mostly drum-free hall of mirrors, pulling from minimalism, chamber music, dark jazz, and synthesiser experiments.

Warm, and rich with earthy detail, defined by complex use of space and contrast, there is a depth of focus and detail to his tracks and Mana leaves the imagination of the listener to indulge in most of the time.