“Strada Provinciale 6” by Satantango

I’m bummed that I didn’t hear Satantango’s — aka, Valentina Ottoboni and Gianmarco Soldi — debut self-titled album when it was released last December. If I had, then I’m fairly certain that “Strada Provinciale 6” would’ve figured prominently in my 2025 year-end mix.

The duo employs the sort of My Bloody Valentine-esque squall that speaks right to my soul, with warbling, Kevin Shields-style “glider” guitars bursting out of the speakers from the very get-go alongside their wispy, yearning vocals. And for most shoegazers, that’d be more than enough. However, Ottoboni and Soldi introduce other dynamics, peeling back the thick walls of noise to reveal delicately picked guitar melodies that serve as a gentle calm before the maelstrom comes sweeping back in.

Satantango — who take their name from Béla Tarr’s acclaimed seven-hour 1994 epic — use that approach throughout the album’s eight songs. Which means that while it’s all very easily filed under “shoegaze,” it’s also never a mere genre exercise. Ottoboni and Soldi are never content to simply retread the same musical tropes as countless other ‘gazers have done before them, which makes Satantango one of the more interesting shoegaze releases — and one of the more promising debuts — that I’ve heard in quite some time.

Satantango is currently available via Dischi Sotterranei.