The Desperate Call Of The Sea Choose Reflection Over Rupture on D’ora in avanti
With D’ora in avanti, released on January 19, 2026, The Desperate Call Of The Sea return with a work that feels quietly decisive. Hailing from Italy’s Ligurian coast, around Chiavari, the project continues to blur the lines between emo, shoegaze, indie, and post-rock, but does so with a noticeably altered emotional posture. Where earlier records leaned into immediacy and raw exposure, D’ora in avanti feels like the moment after impact, when noise recedes and meaning begins to settle.
Active since at least 2017 and shaped by a resolutely DIY ethos, The Desperate Call Of The Sea has built a deeply personal catalogue through self-production and releases via Nightrain Records. The project has always favoured sincerity over polish, crafting music that feels assembled by hand, guided by instinct rather than expectation. That sensibility remains intact here, but the emotional lens has shifted.
For listeners who connected strongly with Negli Anni, released in February 2024, the contrast is immediately apparent. That album thrived on rawness, built from vivid memories, intense impressions, and organic sonic collages that felt urgent and exposed. It was an album of immersion, pulling the listener directly into lived moments and unresolved emotion.
D’ora in avanti approaches those same experiences from a different angle. Rather than reliving the chaos, it examines what remains once the dust has settled. The album is introspective and measured, shaped by reflection after decisive events, by the need to take stock and rebuild internally. There is a sense of emotional cooling here, not in the sense of detachment, but of clarity. The songs feel written from a place of distance gained, where pain has been acknowledged and transformed rather than simply expressed.
Musically, the record breathes more space. Shoegaze textures remain present, but they are less overwhelming, more carefully placed. Emo’s emotional directness is still there, yet softened by a post-rock sense of patience and structure. Indie influences surface subtly, giving the album a slightly timeless quality, as if it exists outside immediate trends. The overall tone oscillates between melancholy and a restrained, expressive vitality, never collapsing into despair, never forcing optimism.
This evolution gives D’ora in avanti the feeling of a matured work. It has been described as an album born from accumulated human experience: encounters, touring, shared moments, and emotional scars. That history is audible in the way the songs unfold, with arrangements that feel more nuanced and an atmosphere that invites contemplation rather than confrontation.
Vocally, the project continues to explore fragility and intimacy. On select tracks, the presence of an additional voice, notably that of Faty Spring, adds further emotional depth. These moments feel less like embellishment and more like quiet reinforcements, enriching the songs without shifting their centre of gravity.
What ultimately distinguishes D’ora in avanti is its sense of calm resolve. It is an album about what comes next, about choosing how to move forward once experiences have been absorbed and understood. Rather than offering dramatic closure, it settles into acceptance, allowing ambiguity and peace to coexist.
In the trajectory from Negli Anni to D’ora in avanti, The Desperate Call Of The Sea demonstrate clear artistic growth. The project has not abandoned its emotional core, but has learned to reshape it, trading urgency for insight, and immediacy for depth. The result is a record that feels less like a cry and more like a quiet, steady breath, taken after everything has been said.
D’ora in avanti stands as a thoughtful, inward-looking chapter, one that rewards attentive listening and lingers precisely because it does not rush to resolve itself. It is a natural continuation of a deeply personal journey, and a compelling step forward for a project that continues to evolve on its own terms.
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