Rome’s Mardi Gras has been at this for nearly two decades. Their debut full-length “Drops Made” came out in 2006, and since then the band has recorded at Abbey Road, played Sziget Festival, toured Ireland extensively, shared stages with Glen Hansard, Billy Bragg, and Noah and the Whale, and had Neil Young select two of their songs for his “Songs of the Times” section on his website. “Lia’s Theme” is the lead single from Sandcastle, their fourth studio album, released through Underground Symphony Records in late 2024. The record is built around an original narrative treatment co-written by Sante Sabbatini, Francesco Braida, and Filippo Novelli, following two siblings navigating a hard life in 1980s Jersey City after the loss of their parents. “Lia’s Theme” specifically occupies the moment where Cecilia, the sister, is suspended between life and death after being struck by a car, addressing her assailant directly. It’s a heavy narrative anchor for a single, and the band carries it.
As someone listening to Mardi Gras for the first time, I’m simply in awe of the musicality on display here. All the moving parts of the song have such soul to them, in perfect harmony to support Liina Rätsep’s ethereal vocals. From the way that snare is mixed, to the ambient guitar tone, to the harmonic choices. This is a band that has great chemistry within itself and would be a pleasure to witness live. Fabrizio Fontanelli and Alessandro Matilli, who also produced the track, built an arrangement that feels effortlessly cinematic.
For a song that functions as a character’s last transmission before possibly not coming back, “Lia’s Theme” earns its weight. There’s a restraint to how Mardi Gras handles the drama here that a lot of bands in this territory would fumble, and it makes you curious about what the rest of Sandcastle sounds like when the story escalates.
