Psiker
The dingy, drum machine-driven synth pop of Italy's Psiker is steeped in '80s U.K. influences like Gary Numan and New Order, among many more. He released his first official studio full-length, Logic, in 2008, followed by the Italian-language Genial in 2011. He continued to build out his sound with components like strings, guitars, and woodwinds -- at least on the occasional song -- on albums such as 2014's Exist, while remaining based in pulsing, dark, and danceable synth songs. He proceeded in this vein while alternating English and Italian releases including 2016's collaboration-heavy Maximo, 2020's Momentum, and 2022's Retrofront, which reflected on the everyday anxieties and repetition of modern office life. The latter album found him working with a slew of outside producers for the first time, many of them from the Italian rap scene.
Hailing from Milan, the singer, songwriter, and producer known as Psiker was highly influenced by the synth pop sounds of the 1980s and early '90s when he launched his music project in the early 2000s. A series of demo albums -- 2003's Delivery, 2004's Daydreams, and the next year's Artismo -- found him honing his melodic yet icy style before he branched out to work with others in studio settings. His first studio LP, the English-language Logic, appeared in 2008. He followed it with an Italian album, 2011's Genial. The Synthetico EP appeared a year later, and he released his third album, Exist, in 2014. It featured a song ("Eyes Wide Open") produced by Shiver, who had done additional programming on prior albums. The more collaborative Maximo, an Italian-language release, followed in late 2016. Its guests included fellow synth pop specialist Luca Urbani and vocalists Francesca Gastaldi, Raffaella Destefano, and Odette Di Maio.
Psiker's most international recorded long-player to date was 2020's Momentum, which he began writing in Donegall, Ireland and finished with artists including Belfast, Ireland's Jonny Fitch (programming, guitars, bass) and Copenhagen, Denmark-based HunBjørn (vocals and choirs), both of whom he sought out on social media. A more personal album than was typical for the musician, it was released two days before his 40th birthday in March of 2020 and coincided with the 20th anniversary of his music alter ego.
In 2022, Psiker signed with ADA Music Italy/Warner Music Italy. His first release on the label was the single "Ctrl Alt Canc " featuring Lucanian rapper Vega, which he produced in tandem with Whizy. The song appeared on his sixth studio album, the Italian-language Retrofront, in September of that year. Although remaining squarely in the synth pop realm, it ultimately included collaborations with seven different producers, most of them from the Italian trap and rap scenes.
© Marcy Donelson /TiVo
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Discografía
13 álbum(es) • Ordenado por Mejores ventas
