Chiara Amalia Bernardini and Nicola Mora have been composing music together for many years, during which time their interpersonal and musical relationship has taken various forms, including KICK. Angel Names is the current definition.
Angel Names is also an album: with the utmost integrity and clarity of vision, the duo has created their own interpretation of what an alternative rock record should sound like. Chiara Amalia is attracted to black, death, and dark sounds. Nicola, on the other hand, loves shoegaze and Italian library music. The record sounds like none of the above.
The mysterious and captivating album, from which various singles have already been released, will be out on May 8th, 2026 on CD and digital via well known Italian indie label Dischi Sotterranei.
Out today 14h April, the brand new single Un Dolce Finale – always sung in English, despite the title – is not a historical song, even though it pays homage to the Italian Resistance. It’s not a historical song because it attempts to imagine what the partisans felt as they prepared for war, as they looked at the sun, knowing it could be their last time. It’s an appeal to our collective conscience, a call to perseverance in a time of helplessness. It’s not just a celebration of Anniversary of Italy’s Liberation, but the hope that the meaning of this date, 25 April, will become an attitude towards the present and the future.
Produced together with Elmer Hallsby (Isolated Youth, Dead Vibrations), Angel Names was recorded at the Big Tree Studio in Brescia, and then mixed by Martin “Konie” Ehrencrona (formerly of Viagra Boys).
Live, the duo becomes a quintet, with vocals, drums, bass, guitar, and bass VI. Chiara and Nicola have shared the stage with acts such as Elias Rønnenfelt, DAIISTAR, and Molly Nilsson, and have played at major festivals such as Synästhesie (Germany) and Ypsigrock (Italy).
