Giada Pignotti makes her Brachliegen debut with Storia di Laide (before sleeping), a mixed media project that explores a restless psyche’s dreams and desires as it enters the somnolent space. Metamorphosing the traditions and techniques of radio drama, the Italian artist embodies the character Laide across a hallucinogenic reverie in four parts, dwelling on her relationship with her bed and the emotionally complex territories the resting mind journeys through during the transitional state of hypnagogia.
Presented as a series of broken nocturnal ruminations on the body and identity, Storia di Laide (before sleeping) exists in the temporal space of the bed and follows its protagonist as she descends into the introspective arena of the long night. As the character of Laide deviates from the circadian cycle, a series of sonic hallucinations oscillate between her conflicting desires for rest and experience, creating a dynamic interplay that mines the depths of the subconscious. Reflecting on the genesis of the work, Pignotti explains:
"I began working on the project while reading Virginia Woolf's Orlando. Around that time, I was thinking a lot about love, metamorphosis, and the ways in which they act upon the body. The idea of the body as mutable terrain – something constantly shifting and open to transformation – became a central thread in the development of the work."
The album begins with 'Preludio', which builds an aural environment from varied close mic techniques. Creating an eerie windswept scene, Pignotti’s shifting granular mix takes the listener deep into the company of wolves. The track draws on a fascination for certain elements of the Portuguese style of Fado singing (overwhelming nostalgia, storytelling through lyrics), a key spark for the project that Pignotti encountered while on an artist's residency in Lisbon. 'Creature del Cielo, Creature del Mare' follows by introducing an anxious Janus-faced conversation of comfort and despair. Furtive breathing punctuates Laide’s cries and whispered song; as water steadily drips into a digital basin, an inner monologue of reminiscence and resistance emerges.
Looking towards the end of the night, the Yume Nikki inspired 'Fiorisci' obsessively encourages the eponymous Laide to escape her past and bloom, as heavy spring rain and warbling FM bells feed the ground beneath her. Storia di Laide (before sleeping) concludes with 'L'alba scenderà, L'alba lo saprà', a plaintive ode to dawn and florescence. Clear and crisp, immediate and close, church bells announce the approach of daybreak as Laide delivers a whispered yearning petition for a gateway to another world.
Giada Pignotti has previously collaborated with Rosso Polare, HMOT and Dania Shihab on the multimedia installation The Vestibule and her audio work has been published as part of Helicotrema (2020).
Storia di Laide is presented as a cassette and booklet, both parts of an inseparable art object. The 2-colour risograph printed A6 booklet charts the gestation of the project through artwork, lyrics and further contextual information. It is presented as a dossier that forms an essential component of Pignotti’s multi-faceted mixed media work.
credits
released July 3, 2026
Sound, artwork and design by Giada Pignotti
Mixed by Cesare Lopopolo
Mastered by Rupert Clervaux
This stunning, beautiful project from Fujian duo Southeast of Rain 东南有雨 blends field recordings with rippling notes from the pipa. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 8, 2021
