Sxrrxwland

Sxrrxwland (also known as Sorrowland or Six Row Land) are a pop-trap trio with a strong emotional streak, formed in Rome in 2017 by rapper Vipra, “creative director” Tremila and producer Osore. They've only put out a handful of singles and two EPs, but some tracks—like “La città”, emo-trap for violin and desolate guitar, “La famiglia tradizionale”, practically the long-sought hybrid of it-pop and trap, and “Crush/Adderall”, a cacophonous hyper-pop blended with melancholic rap—show real promise, even if they've never been properly framed within a full album. They finally get to a mini-album only in 2024 with “Anima macchina”, ten tracks that speak, in a language full of youthful slang, of an existential anxiety and a vividly colorful depression that seems to be a generational trait of centennials. Stylistically, it's a pop that's hyper, it-pop, rap and trap all at once, with heavy doses of glitch, digital distortion and fast, danceable rhythms: an over-the-top sound that updates the ideas floated a generation ago in Italian pop by Carl Brave, I Cani and Coma_Cose.

(Antonio Silvestri)