Mushy is the solo project of Valentina Fanigliulo, a sound‐experimentalist rising from the dusty ruins of Rome, the eternal city. Since 2003, Mushy’s style combines and synthesizes electronica, shoegaze, blues and new-wave, with a psychedelic/kraut soul.
Her soundscape-like compositions reveal a spellbinding universe that emerges from the mixture of analog drum‐machines, burgeoning cold drones, tempestuous noises and spectral chants. Mushy has been deeply inspired by the works of Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Slowdive, Lush, Minimal Compact, New Order, Swans, Nico, and legendary singers Nina Simone and Ella Fitzgerald. Mushy’s debut album, ‘Faded Heart’, has been released by Italian underground label Mannequin Records on Feb 2011. It’s an album recorded essentially at home and its lo-fi charms derives from the amalgamation of obsessive drum-machine loops, synths and an effect‐processed old and battered acoustic guitar, found in a flea market with only 4 strings. Mushy considers ‘Faded Heart’ as her personal take on blues.
The album was picked as Rough Trade’s Album Of The Week, in March 2011 and was described as the most convincing European answer to contemporaneous releases by American artists such as Zola Jesus and Tamaryn. Mushy’s sophomore LP ‘Breatheless’ was released by Mannequin Recs on November 19th 2012.
