Deepness is all about the sea. Using audio samples from around the world, Francesco Giannico amasses a collection of sea-related sounds (which aren’t necessarily seascapes), with recordings taken on location and vacation, interpreting the sea in its various forms; not only viewing it as a harbour for undersea life but as a gateway to another world. The soothing surf is a calming lullaby for better days and beach barbecues at sunset, but it’s also prone to the wrath of Poseidon with a tempestuous outburst or two. Violent surges are an inextricable part of sea life, but Deepness is a relatively calm area of the shoreline. Collaborative in nature, Deepness is itself a discovery, telling stories of strange encounters in the murky deep. A shipwreck lies at the bottom of a quiet reef. Crabs scuttle over the sand and fish play in and around a soft, leaking piano. Black gnarls of seaweed hang like scraggly hairs from the bow and shells cover its disintegrating body, not only repopulating the ship but reclaiming it.
The bedrock of the music – a bright and sunny drone – is caught up in a gritty sediment. Specks of sea salt puncture the frothy drone, and the dive-bombing drums are thrill-seekers in the middle of an adventurous, endless summer. Like a surfer catching a huge wave, the drums ride through a tunnel of grey, roiling water, only escaping the roar of the wave at the very last second. A tropical and transcendent synth is a warm recollection of a day spent at the seashore.
Palm trees rustle in a Floridian breeze. Good karma fills the air. Dolphins play around in the surf, but rather than heading towards Orlando, the music drives to the authentic Sea World: the world of the deep ocean. It isn’t all roses: bits of plastic writhe around on the surface, and a sickly patch of oil splutters. Sharks are slaughtered for shark-fin soup and majestic whales are hunted. The oceans aren’t safe havens; the cruelty of mankind is without limit. Closer to the shore, seagulls swoop low, chasing after the early morning fishing boats for an easy breakfast. The music itself arises from the dreams of a marine biologist. Be it cloudy grey or translucent turquoise, the body of water is always there – always changing – with both the ability to unite and to divide.
The collaborators of Deepness: Angelo Guido, Paulo Besagno, Davide Montoro, Giulio Aldinucci, Jelena Pavlovic, Danilo Ligato, Marco Bonaccolto, Martina Melilli, Stefano Serretta, Rossella Tricarico and Simone Santarsiero.