Psychedelic indie-rock outfit Messiness presents their highly anticipated debut ‘Messiness’ album, released via Vienna-based StoneFree Records and Istanbul-based Tarla Records. A collection that resists easy categorisation, this music is playful yet serious, critical yet hallucinatory. This is a record for disobedient nights, for cracked screens and seaside sunsets, and for listeners who suspect that, in disorder, there may also lie a different kind of clarity.
Here, Messiness presents a vibrant sonic supernova, delivering an exhilarating blend of indie rock riffs, baroque and power pop harmonies, and razor-sharp Britpop energy. Highlighted by the standout focus track ‘Cómo Baja, Cómo Sube’, this album masterfully captures a feeling of adventure and possibility that unites their seaside roots and humanity’s cosmic future through dizzying psychedelia and high-velocity art-rock euphoria.
Steered by Sicilian polymath Max Raffa – singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist, writer and sociologist – Messiness is a psychedelic art-rock band born in the shadowy outskirts of Milan. A compelling culmination of his diverse artistic and academic pursuits, Raffa forged his unique sound playing in various rock ‘n’ roll bands while touring across Europe and the UK.
On stage, Raffa is joined by Rosario Lo Monaco (guitars), Filippo La Marca (keyboards, backing vocals), Giovanni Calella (bass), and Luca Anello (drums and percussion), expanding the studio vision into a dense, unpredictable, and immersive live experience.
With an inviting and energetic sound, Messiness masterfully weaves art pop, psychedelia and space rock into a distinctive and compelling style. With rich harmonies, this rich tapestry is both accessible and exhilaratingly vibrant, drawing from the finest traditions of British rock and continental flair.
Recorded entirely on analogue equipment, the album is a kaleidoscope of influences: psychedelic rock, Canterbury scene experimentation, Mediterranean folk traditions, space-funk grooves, and baroque pop. Guitars bleed into Mellotron swells, oud and shawm cut through saxophone blasts, while theremin and electronics haunt the edges of the mix. The result is a sound that is both grounded in history and untethered from time: at once classic and futuristic, earthy and celestial.
But Messiness is not only about sound – this album is also a work of social commentary. Its songs confront the contradictions of contemporary life: the pressure to optimise everything, the commodification of well-being, the collapse of solidarity, and the shifting borders of identity and belonging. Rather than offering manifestos, the band responds with atmosphere, irony, and dissonance, turning critique into music that drifts between satire and reverie.
Some of these compositions are biting and sardonic, exposing the rituals of productivity and the comforts that anaesthetise dissent. Others move toward dreamlike meditation, evoking Mediterranean coastlines where time loosens its grip and memory becomes indistinguishable from imagination. Throughout, Messiness’ creativity thrives in the midst of contradictions rather than seeking to resolve them, essentially discovering intensity despite overload and beauty amidst collapse.
Messiness earlier shared four superb singles – ‘Eternity Unbound’, a feverish trippy explosion of sound that explores a shattered sense of time and self-identify; ‘Fatally’, a Britpop-hued track that delves into the harrowing reality of substance dependency; ‘Feature With a Rapper’, a biting critique of the music industry and creative legitimacy in the digital age; and the head-turning lead track ‘Previous Life’.
Messiness’ visual identity is curated by Istanbul-based artist Güneş Akyürek, whose imagery expands their world beyond sound, translating their intensity into colour, form and atmosphere. Sun-drenched memory against metropolitan nights, social critique against psychedelic drift, collapse against luminous renewal.
As of November 21, the ‘Messiness’ album is available from fine online music platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. The LP can be ordered on hand-numbered 12″ black vinyl, limited to 200 pieces, while the 12″ blue mirage vinyl is limited to 100 pieces, each of them including an inlay sheet and download card.
TRACK LIST
1 . Feature with a Rapper
2 . Previous Life
3 . Fatally
4 . Cómo Baja, Cómo Sube
5 . Eternity Unbound
6 . Optimised
7 . Doctoral Get-Together
8 . Anaesthetised
9 . By the Sea
CREDITS
Words and Music by Massimiliano Raffa
Produced by Ivan A. Rossi and Massimiliano Raffa
Recorded by Ivan A. Rossi at 8brr.rec Studio, Milan
Additional recording by Lorenzo Di Blasi (at Sartoria 57 Studio, Milan), Giovanni Calella (at Diabolicus Studio, Milan) and Massimiliano Raffa (at The Faraday Cage, Milan)
Mixed & mastered by Ivan A. Rossi at 8brr.rec Studio in Milan
Massimiliano Raffa – lead vocals, guitars, mellotron, celesta, synthesizers, oud, violin, shawm, sound effects, glockenspiel, live electronics, programming, arrangements
Filippo La Marca – keyboards of all kinds, backing vocals, tambourine
Rosario Lo Monaco – guitars
Giovanni Calella – bass
Beppe Scardino – baritone saxophone and flute
Andrea Quattrini – drums and percussion
Luca Anello – drums and percussion
Lorenzo Di Blasi – theremin
Cover artwork by Güneş Akyürek
Released by StoneFree Records. Digital management by Tarla Records
Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR