Massimo Silverio - New album 'Surtùm' out on 10 October - Hear new track 'Zoja'
Massimo Silverio has announced the release of his new album 'Surtùm' on 10th October via Okum and has shared new single 'Zoja'.
Massimo Silverio stands as one of the most distinctive voices of the new Italian music scene, carving a unique niche within the independent landscape with an unconventional and avant-garde style, deeply rooted in the folklore of the mountainous region of Carnia, in the North East of Italy. As with his previous work, Surtùm is sung in Silverio’s native tongue, Carnic.
Zoja, the new single, means funeral wreath, an object and symbol that signifies a new end and a new beginning. He explains: "I have tried to sing for something, for life and for death. Zoja, for me, is a cycle that closes in a symbol".
LISTEN TO 'ZOJA' HERE
'Surtùm' arrives two years after 'Hrudja' (2023), the album that established Silverio as the Italian artist to watch in 2025. His unmistakable style blends folklore and songwriting in a daring mix that recalls the poetics and atmospheres of David Sylvian, Anna von Hausswolff, the monumental arrangements of Swans, and the electro-acoustic minimalism of Massive Attack’s Mezzanine.
Produced by Manuel Volpe, Surtùm was written by Silverio and arranged together with Nicolas Remondino and Volpe, his trusted collaborators on 'Hrudja'. The record features contributions from Mirko Cisillino (C’mon Tigre) on horn and tuba, Flavia Massimo (Teho Teardo) on cello, Benedetta Fabbri on violin, and Martin Mayers on alphorn. It represents a new step in the Friulian artist’s evolution, born of the deep musical bond developed with his trio over years of touring.
Massimo explains: “I asked myself: where does memory reside? This question led me to seek the point where the real and the metaphysical touch, where they meet. A place where I imagine every action, every gesture, deposits itself once its echo fades into silence. Perhaps the access to this place lies on our very skin, in landscapes, homes, woods, meadows or mountains – or wherever they come into contact with our hearts and souls.”
'Surtùm' is a journey of peace and grace, a slow descent into the darker nature of humankind. It is an album in which Silverio seeks to exorcise the violent and hateful times we live in.
“Especially in moments like these,” he reflects, “we must send messages of brotherhood – prayers that transcend all creeds and religions, except those of common humanity and love for nature. For those of us who live in the world’s more fortunate, less openly violent regions, the only true alternative left is to try to live (and die) with genuine meaning. To reweave the sense of existence. And we must keep faith in this search.”
In Carnic, Surtùm translates as “swamp” or “marshy meadow.” In the context of the album, it is a place where songs and prayers – our own or those of others – can settle. Silverio sums up the essence of the record in his own words: “While existence today seems to stagnate in a murky frenzy of sterility, a swamp is a place of both life and death: of transition, transformation, rebirth. A symbol of the threshold between reality and what lies beyond, between life and death, two worlds. I think of moisture as a fresh emanation of life, like the wind after heavy rain. I think of it as a sacred ‘place’ that is disappearing. And I wonder: is our ability to be clothed in memory also vanishing? Then I am left with one image: a song, a prayer that might rest upon things like frost. Like dew. Perhaps that’s why there is so much humidity in this record – from the spring (Avenâl), essence and soul of an awaited love flowing through the body of a tree, to the womb (Grim), a prayer to water to return as the womb of us all. All of us, none excluded.
There is also peat, murk, suffocation. Earth, moss, a flame burning amid the vapours, like vespers for this empty communication. The greed of the first (Prin) phenomenon, a solitary chant singing itself. A chant as a funeral garland (Zoja), a chant for those who are gone (Vàre), a chant for all those suffering (Ghirbe). A chant for this amputated world (Sorgjâl). When words are gone, only a mute book remains. When the book is consumed, what remains? When the living song, never written, is gone, what remains? A search, an attempt at contact with that place where our legacy might settle, transform, be reborn. One tries – even by letting go of control – but always hoping to leave at least a little good behind.”
ABOUT MASSIMO SILVERIO:
Massimo writes and sings primarily in his native language, Carnic—an ancient variant of the Friulian language. His music employs a deeply personal idiom made of poetry and sound, blending folk and art music, classical and contemporary, the tangible and the hidden. It conjures an imaginative world of places, souls and plants, faces and ancient rituals.
In 2023, Silverio released his debut album Hrudja on Okum Produzioni. The record was met with enthusiastic acclaim both in Italy and abroad, receiving coverage from Mojo, Clash, Rolling Stone, Rumore as well as airplay from Kevin Cole (KEXP), Iggy Pop (BBC6), Fip Radio France, and Radio Rai/Capital. Featured in numerous “Best of 2024” lists, Hrudjawas also shortlisted for the 2024 Targa Tenco Award as “Best Album in Dialect.” The Hrudja tour saw Silverio and his trio perform at major festivals and venues including Jazz Is Dead, Fias (Madrid), Locus Festival, No Borders, Import Export (Munich), Linecheck, Sopravento (curated by Colapesce and Dimartino), Opera Festival, and Paesaggi Sonori.
LISTEN TO PREVIOUS SINGLE 'SORGJÂL' HERE
PRE-ORDER 'SURTÙM' HERE
PRAISE FOR DEBUT ALBUM 'HRUDJA'
"The music is striking, its light and shade closely intertwined; classical instruments, distorted and prepared, so you are often left guessing at the provenance of the sound as the performers create a rounded, believable world of uncanny and unsettling emotions" ★★★★ MOJO
"A body of work that is beautifully considered and strikes an impassioned, timeless sincerity” 8/10 Clash
"‘Hrudja’ emerges as a testament to his ability to convey universal stories through the lens of a minority language, creating an experience that resonates beyond cultural boundaries” Electronica
"These songs create a beautiful world to spend time in, and the unconventional but sensitive arrangements combined with Massimo Silverio’s heavenly voice make this a likely contender for one of my albums of the year” Joyzine
"Silverio managed to pack his roots into a self-sufficient offering, gracefully soaring on the verge of old traditions and contemporary sonics… Massimo adopts a modern approach to build a bridge between modernity and antiquity, trends and traditions, entertainment and drama, hopefulness and darkness” Northern Transmissions
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