Someone recently asked me what the process was in choosing an album to write about. Given the ocean-sized scope of new music and the constant stream of submissions, it’s an interesting question and one most scrolls fail to talk about. A lot of the time the key factor is feeling. If something sparks the senses and moves you to the point of wanting to write about it, then that really is the logical end point.
The music of Italy’s Paolo Tortora does this. The co-founder of Japanese Gum, the Genoa experimentalist emerged from the shadows late in 2025 with his debut solo LP, Waves of Fading Memories. Consisting of four long-form compositions, Tortora’s creations offer new possibilities.
For a multitude of reasons, December has become more prominent for artists to release new music, and Waves of Fading Memories spearheaded what was another strong finale in 2025. It’s a time of year where a lot of us take stock. For those of us in a privileged position to have family, the festive period is often spent with those we love the most, and as we all grow older, there’s a certain melancholy attached to these reunions. Time, eventually catching up with us all, and trying to freeze it remains impossible as the landscape of life forever shifts.
As Tortora reflects, “Memories have their own lives”. It’s something I’ve never thought about, but is so true. And while instrumental-based music can be whatever someone wants it to be, often it’s all about the timing, and in the case of Waves of Fading Memories, this is very much the case.
Waves of Fading Memories sees Tortora bottling up the kind of soundscapes and emotions that pull from every corner of your mind. Beginning with From a Memory Part 1 – a mist-laden dreamscape of earthy post-rock and glacial-inspired electronica, Tortora’s production is as meticulously crafted as an ice sculpture.
Following is From a Memory Part 2 – environmental-based electronica from the playbook of, say, Thomas Ragsdale, lifting the heart rate and occupying space between the dance floor and secluded locales. Emotive more than euphoric, the melodic guitars cut through the static of synths in something that turns into the kind of melting drones that Fennesz has mastered so far in this century.
And speaking of, From a Memory parts 3 and 4 reach the arc that echoes the Austrian trading blows with Rafael Anton Irisarri. It’s Tortora wearing his influences on his sleeve, but adding his own dynamic accents, dragging his audience to far-off places, and in doing so, illuminating these previously untrodden recesses.
It’s escapism on the wide-screen. A world away from Japanese Gum, this is an artist who has not only reinvented himself, but also guitar-based composition, and across a sound world where so many purveyors have adopted similar approaches, against the odds, Tortora’s Waves of Fading Memories manages to stand out from the pack.
Waves of Fading Memories is out now via Torto Editions. Purchase from Bandcamp.
