Photo by Steve Gullick 

At every turn in bar italia’s musicmaking is the feeling to their listener that they have stumbled upon a conversation intimately amongst its three members in-progress where the topic du jour in the room is rarely scandalous nor controversial, but always tantalizing because it is so relatable to a universal desire to feel something more. On “Jelsey”, the second, acoustic-and-alcohol smoldering single from the London indie rock trio’s second full-length album of 2023, The Twits, aches even more intensely because of how quiet the dark barroom moves around Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton’s voices. “I shiver at the thought of losing / The warmth which is before my eyes / Because of love,” Cristante sings in its opening lines as the listen pours further thoughts of isolation into her glass. Although Fehmi and Fenton solace hers with their own similar fears, their individual fixations on being alone makes for the kind of conversation that never leaves your head even when in good company.

bar italia’s The Twits will be released November 3rd on Matador Records.