Monte Mai Inventing Tropicalpino

Entitled “Tropicalpino”, the new album from continent- if not universe-spanning Ticinesi trio Monte Mai is out now via Il Domani.

Formed in 2020 by Grenadian singer and synth-player Anais Schmidt and the Italian-Swiss duo of Fabio Pinto (guitar, vocals) and Fabio Besomi (bass, electronics) used to describe their style as a “a unique encounter between Swiss precision and Caribbean freschezza”. Now, referencing tropicalismo, the influence-blending style that revolutionised Brazilian music in the sixties, they have invented a new term: “Tropicalpino”, explains their press release, is “a blend – a crasis – that merges two seemingly distant worlds, the Tropics and the Alps, opening up new paths for exploration and connection”. Yes, we, too, had to look up the meaning of “a crasis”. According to the internet it’s a “contraction of two adjacent vowels into one long vowel or diphthong, for example the reduction of words in ancient Greek from three syllables to two”.

“Tropicalpino”’s tropical influence can perhaps be felt rather than heard in the lightness of touch with which the band approaches their songs. A little less psychedelic in feel than their debut, by dipping their toes in 1980s moods and Sparks territory, Monte Mai have sharpened up their melodies and amplified their Krautrock vibe with the addition of guest percussionist extraordinaire, Domi Chansorn.

Monte Mai
Il Domani
Anais Schmidt
Fabio Pinto
Fabio Besomi
Domi Chansorn