Rome in Reverse and Sieren bring dreamy techno for introverts to Spectaculare
The last confirmed musical event at this year's Spectaculare_11 festival will be a live set by Rome In Reverse and Sieren. Copenhagen's mesmerizing Italian-born musician Antonella Pacifico has been performing as Rome in Reverse since 2014, mixing elements of ambient, dub, trance and trip hop into club music that combines tenderness with wildness.
Italian musician Antonella Pacifico moved from sunny Italy to chilly Copenhagen a decade ago and began making productions that reflect her love of club music. At the same time, she also processes her private joys and traumas. Before that she flirted with guitars in the band Minimitermini, but then she discovered sampler and Ableton and her new electronic alter ego was born. She made her debut as Rome in Reverse in 2015 with the recording Loop and Reverse, which went to Victor Ferreira aka Sun Glitters. The Luxembourg-born musician has been her mentor ever since and, starting with the Northern Lights EP, has overseen the sound of Rome in Reverse's recordings. Together, they have cooked up a distinctive mix of contemporary dance music, in which elements of luscious techno, ambient dub and dreamy downtempo can be traced.
The hallmark of Rome in Reverse is her vocals, looped, chopped, but always warm and full of emotion. „I feel like I'm addicted to music. I need it to capture what's going on in my head and it also helps me confirm that I'm still alive,“ says Pacifico/Rome in Reverse in an interview with Playy. 2017's The Prestige is full of odd loops scattered amidst fat club beats. But the straightforwardness of the record is balanced by a strange dreamy atmosphere, not unlike The Field's From Here We Go Sublime. Two years younger, We've Been Here adds more euphoric trance trills. Rome in Reverse's latest effort so far is a pair of EPs, LUX and NOX. Pacifico recorded them simultaneously but released them separately. The musical „siblings“ reflect the day and night poles of her music, with lush and joyous moments in her music often alternating with the deep and brooding.
German musician Matthias Frick named his project Sieren after his mother's maiden name. He first released his tracks in 2011 and combines his love of field recordings and experimental sound walls with punchy club beats. He has released on Finest Ego and collaborated with musicians such as Robot Koch and Synkro. In 2016, Sieren made his debut with Transients of Light on Kí Records.
In recent years you could find him under the cult electronic label R&S, where he released the album Timelapse on the Apollo sublabel in 2020. It showcases him as a master of intricate electronic compositions and bittersweet emotions. The record functions as a sonic gallery of places he visited in the years just before the pandemic lockdown, like California.
Sieren graduated with a technical degree in digital audio processing and found a job at Ableton, the company that produces the famed music software. It was from there that he branched out to create music that is infused with influences such as UK Bass and intelligent dubstep.
With Rome in Reverse, Sieren has the ability to conjure up a strange and unique atmosphere in which the beats of a straight dance beat melt away into a blissful calm, and he will bring his new material from his upcoming album Fractals to Prague. On Friday, March 15, Sieren and Rome in Reverse will perform at Kasárny Karlín at a party held as part of the Spectaculare festival.
