defrancomusic

Composer, musician and producer, De-Franco has been experimenting with electronica since he finished touring with his last band Bellicose, an Australian post grunge indie pop outfit at the forefront of loops and samples in rock, ala Garbage and Rogue Traders.

A guitarist by default, he harbored a love of drum machines, synths and midi, and was always the first to bring technology and toys to the table when writing, recording, producing and performing. 

Over time his music stylings have developed into melodic, evocative, sumptuous electronica.

De-Franco’s debut album Solastalgia is a fusion of captivating, melodic acoustic and electro instrumentation, using elements of progressive, minimal and tech house to create a boldly haunting sound. Add to this some cherry-picked smatterings of ambient, glitch, pop and jazz and the result is a rich, luscious brew.

Composed, performed and produced by the man himself, Solastalgia has been crafted with focussed love. Soul soothing one moment, bent out of shape the next, each piece is intelligent, deliberate and introspective. 

The first single from Solastalgia, Sunlight Song, features an ethereal, plaintive vocal from Australian singer Rel O’Keefe, imploring us to reach for the light from the dark of despair. The lyrics with their oblique allusion to Hiroshima delivers chills. His second single, Monster, a deliciously crunchy minimal techhouse track, was released in early 2016.

De-Franco cites electronic heroes including Ennio Morricone, Massive Attack, Air, Jean Michel Jarre, Trentemøller, Pink Floyd, Vangelis and Yann Tierson to name a few. “I’ve always been attracted to tunes with great melodies – instrumental or vocal, electronica, rock, pop – it doesn’t matter. If the melody stirs me, then I’m in.”