Album Review: Some Like It Hot by bar italia

For a band formed just before lockdown, it's no surprise that bar italia have at times sounded like they were recording virtually, occasionally waving at each other through their laptops. That detached quality worked in its own way, giving the sense of three musicians orbiting the same mood rather than sharing the same space. Yet there were moments when you wondered if there was any real chemistry holding it all together.

Full Review >>

London trio’s fifth album in as many years shows them to still be a work in progress, but when they hit the right notes they sound utterly thrilling It only feels like Bar Italia have been around for five minutes, yet they’ve accumulated a more impressive back catalogue than bands twice their age. They were formed in 2019, when Italian vocalist Nina Cristante moved to London and lived in a flat above Sam Fenton and Jezmi Tarik Fehmi. The following year, of course, the world shut down due to the Covid pandemic, and so most people discovered Bar Italia online.

Full Review >>

In the early days, fans of the Dean Blunt-led world music scene from which they emerged struggled to rationalize it. Sometimes the band seemed to offer the same obtuse pleasures as their experimental forefather, while at other times they simply delivered great songs. The band's own sound reflects this, with its odd mix of endlessly catchy guitar riffs and slacker amateurism.

Full Review >>

Whereas earlier efforts -- 2023's entrancing Tracey Denim and unhinged The Twits -- were murky and unstable, this is the first album where the songs feel like the trio could be performing them in a stadium. Decidedly hi-fi in its expansive galaxies of guitars and drums, the record sees sweeping piano waltzes peppered in between noise-rock gems, with mixed but always fascinating results. The band's fearlessness has never been more apparent.

Full Review >>

Cinematic classic Some Like It Hot is a 1959 film starring an all-cast as a group of rogue musicians searching for adventure… and a very appropriate album title for London-based trio bar italia's latest offering. 'Some Like It Hot' is the culmination of the band's potent transformation, a collection of guitar-heavy, emotionally rich, and firmly articulated tracks, that no longer shy away from the spotlight but instead hunger for it. Firing into the fold, the album kicks off with 'Fundraiser', a track designed through compelling hooks and distorted basslines that erupt into full-bodied conviction, and a fitting introduction to an outspoken album.

Full Review >>