Sleep + leap: the soul of this (meow) power trio lies in the moody tension between these polar opposites. A lo-fi soundscape, a wink to the egg punk attitude, a kitten playing with bossa nova.

 

The Italian singer-songwriter’s second album, 8106, captures the spirit of play; the child-like instinct to pursue what you love without compromise – and here it is, that particular magic that rarely survives adulthood, remarkably intact.

Each of its eleven songs are sharp, vibrant shards which, when you step back, build a mosaic of Asia Martina Morabito’s world: the growing pains of your early twenties, remaining faithful to your dreams despite the hostility of adulthood, places of escape both real and imagined – and the pulse of Bologna, her home and north star.