Monte Mai: Fever Rays
Monte Mai is a Swiss Grenadian psychedelic pop trio. Formed in 2020 by vocalist Anais Schmidt (Grenada), vocalist and guitar wizard Fabio Pinto (Switzerland) and bassist Fabio Besomi (Switzerland). This unique encounter between Swiss precision and laid back Caribbean vibes echoes in Monte Mai’s music. A skilled blend of dilated melodies, angelic voices and punching electronic beats are portrayed in sheer harmony. A proper balance between man and electronic soul. The composition and production is stunningly accurate and wonderfully unpredictable, as they sway from minimalistic to jammed full soundscapes with inventiveness and bloom. The band released three singles in the last year. Their debut album is schedule for release late 2022 for Swiss independent labels On The Camper Records and Il Domani.
Their new single Fever Rays opens with a sampled bluesy bass riff, backed by an indolent rhythm and psychedelic nursery rhyme—style vocal lines. The text lets a dreamlike dimension emerge, at times lysergic, and introduces a contagious refrain like measles. The ending flirts with proto-punk, industrial electronics between the bewildered melodic lines of synthesisers. It comes unexpectedly like a slap in the face.
The single, co-produced by Aris Bassetti (Peter Kernel, Camilla Sparksss, Kety Fusco), gives us a different taste of what their debut album will bring, due out late 2022 by independent labels On The Camper Records and Il Domani. In the video, written and directed by Radiana Basso, cowboys, madonnas, and drag queens shoot each other glances, poses, and invisible bullets. A psychedelic array of characters, coming from different worlds and eras, exchange and reinterpret each other’s, almost giving life to an aesthetic/visual canon. The apotheosis of synchronicity in the after—party.
Have a listen and connect with Monte Mai:
