Back in May, Italian pianist and composer Maria Chiara Argirò made a welcome return with ‘Nautilus’, a divine gem that lifted the the lid on her upcoming second album, ‘Hidden Seas’. Yesterday, the London based artist released a live remix video of the single featuring multi-instrumentalist duo In a Sleeping Mood.

Inspired by electronic genres her upcoming LP pushes her sound in an exciting new direction with more expansive soundscapes which can be heard on ‘Nautilus’. The new project further explores her collaborative and contemporary style. It features a fantastic line up of musicians including Leila Martial (vocals), Sam Rapley (sax/clarinet), Tal Janes (guitar/effects), Andrea Di Biase (double bass) and Gaspar Sena (drums).

‘Hidden Seas’ will be released on September 27th via Cavalo Records.

We had an opportunity to chat with Argirò and learn a bit more about the artist and her music.

Can you tell us a bit about the live remix video with In A Sleeping Mood?

I’ve been collaborating with In A Sleeping Mood for a long time now. They are incredibly talented and it’s a lot of fun to play live with them. For this remix we choosed our favourite sounds and patterns from the original track in order to inject an electronic pulse and reimagine the beat.

Is there any theme or inspiration behind your new album?

The theme of the upcoming album Hidden Seas is the sea, and each song represents a story about the sea, either imagined or inspired by real-life stories.

Tell us about ‘Hidden Seas’ and how it differs in sound compared to ‘The Fall Dance’?

Hidden Seas departs from the more traditional sound of my debut album and sees me and the band exploring and turning to synths, electronics and introducing lyrics into the music.

What can you tell us about your approach to songwriting? How do your songs come together?

It depends for what I have to write really. I often have lots of melodies going round my head and need to make sure to write them down as soon as I can. For this particular album tho, I have been guided by the stories behind each song, before even turning them into music.

Where do your musical influences come from?

I have always been interested in different types of music, and it’s clear to me that all these influences – from jazz, classical, folk, rock to electronic music – go into my compositions.

What is your favourite track of the album and why?

It’s really hard to answer! The music has been thought in its entirety as a concept album so there wasn’t a favourite track at the beginning of the process. Once I completed the mixing tho, I remember I could play over and over again a track entitled “To The Sea”.

How do you manage your time between producing your music and working with artists such as Kinkajous, Liran Donin and Teotima.

There are some very intense periods where everything happens at once: gigs, rehearsals, recordings. The trick is to be able to breathe a bit more in between these periods and schedule some days off. Tricky but possible. All these artists and bands I play with are part of my influences and inspiration too, so it’s quite an addiction to get stuck into their musical worlds.

What’s coming up for the rest of this year?

A tour which will be announced soon, more recordings and touring with other bands and hopefully, scheduling some time to write another album.

Thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me. Any last words?

Thank you for the great questions and your precious support!

Nautilus is available to buy here.