TRISTAN DA CUNHA - Maris Stella

Two years after "Hidden Sea" and with the first chapter of Bosco Sacro already in the books – a project shared with Paolo Monti (The Star Pillow, Daimon) and Giulia Parin Zecchin (Julinko) – Tristan da Cunha return with a new lineup and an expanded vision of their sound. Their usual isolationism, poised between ambient and post-rock, now takes on a classical solemnity thanks to the addition of Nicolò Vara and the decision to devote this new record to the ancient cult of the Madonna as Stella del Mare, Star of the Sea.

Released to mark the twentieth anniversary of Boring Machines, "Maris Stella" takes the shape of a single, unified flow split into nine movements, with the new member's viola acting as guiding element. Brother Francesco's guitars turn into an expanded breath, an ambient source ready to sketch and detail the scene, while Luca Scotti's minimal, deep percussion punctuates the crucial passages. The result is a highly lyrical liturgy, whose oscillation between new-classical emphasis and sprawling ambient/post-rock structures finds its most successful synthesis in the implacable march of "A Tidal Wave Will Push Them To The Light". It's the title track, though, that provides the album's most moving moment, with the trio turning into a chamber ensemble that converges decisively on a highly emotional strain of post-classical.
It would be a mistake to think of the album's sequence as a musically one-note journey, with the viola simply supplying the – often overused – lyricism of strings. In fact, Nicolò Vara proves to be an eclectic performer, capable of shifting his playing from a purely melodic plane to an atonal one, at times almost jarring, with an avant-garde edge. The dizzying ascent of "Womb" and the soothing harshness of "Wound" are full proof of this, lending "Maris Stella" an even broader range of solutions.

Given their constant urge to reshape their own scope, we can't say whether this marks a new direction for Tristan da Cunha or merely a passing detour. What we can say is that this new chapter of the project offers an interesting, well-focused solution – a choice that would deserve further exploration.

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27/08/2026