Mathame Stuns With Complex And Masterfully-Produced LP ‘Memo’

Hailing from the base of Sicily’s Mt. Etna volcano is Mathame. The brotherly duo, comprised of Amedeo and Matteo Giovanelli, provides a dramatic take on electronic music, indie electro, new dance and melodic techno. Mathame’s sound is largely influenced by science-fiction works, classical movie soundtracks, new technology and anime, echoing Amedeo Giovanelli’s background as a classical violinist and Matteo Giovanelli’s work as an award-winning film director. Mathame’s distinct sound is best seen today, June 30, as the pair stuns audiophiles with its debut album, Memo.

The body of work, which features collaborations with Tiësto and CamelPhat, was mainly written all over the world while touring. It started in Mykonos, though, after the brothers relocated to escape their Italian hometown that was ravaged by covid. Within the LP, this is represented by themes of hope and despair. Pounding techno, emotive melodies, dark yet romantic sounds, cinematic tunes and a dichotomy of darkness and lightness are heard on the 14-track album. These sounds are much like their dynamic: Amedeo Giovanelli is more reserved and brooding while Matteo Giovanelli exhibits a hopeful yang. Their juxtaposition of sounds, Matteo Giovanelli says, is a “romantic” way to look at their style of music. The brothers are 12 years apart so they approach things in different ways, which he says is similar to how each of them creates music.

Matteo Giovanelli says that the inspiration for Memo is the impression that touring and traveling the globe had on them. He says they essentially live on planes due to their touring schedule, in turn having the LP reflect their photo and voice recording memories during these times. Through this, the album showcases memories, hope and sadness, as well as questions about life, technology and time.

Amedeo and Matteo Giovanelli created the album by using the four maximum layers in each track to be imagined as a character in a story. This narrative within the tracklist order pays homage to Hero’s Journey, a book by Jason Campbell that details an archetypal story pattern, common in ancient myths as well as modern-day adventures.

In addition, artificial intelligence plays into Memo, which is representative of how technology has been driving techno since the creation of 808 and 909 drum machines. Matteo Giovanelli says that artificial intelligence is currently the cutting edge of technology, so it felt “natural” to explore despite it being “scary” due to how powerful it can be. Mathame utilized this tool for the LP’s visuals but, unfortunately, it couldn’t be used because of UMG AI rules. However, they were able to use this technology for the artwork of the first three singles off Memo: “Come for You,” “To Hope” and the artwork and music video for “So What.”

Their visual world is not only notable for its usage of artificial intelligence but also for its space theme. Outer space, Amedeo Giovanelli says, plays not only into their show visuals but also the LP as the duo imagines themselves as spaceship pilots. This theme is inspired by technology and sci-fi films, and it is best exemplified in the track “Come for You” as it discusses light years, planets, stars and how far away the stars feel. Even this interview, conducted on April 14, 2023, took place at New York City’s The Rose Center for Earth and Space.

With these various themes in mind, Memo proves to be a complex and masterfully-produced body of work.