Biography
Alessandro Cortini, the Italian musician and songwriter, launched Sonoio as an alternative electronic outlet that stood apart from both his solo recordings and his earlier partnerships with Trent Reznor in Nine Inch Nails and How to Destroy Angels. The project moves through indie rock and synth pop textures, as heard on the albums Red in 2011 and Fine in 2018.
Cortini introduced the project in summer 2010 by posting four tracks online; those pieces later formed the core of his debut album Blue, which appeared that autumn. He explained that the name derives from the Italian phrase “sono io,” or “it’s me,” and that the sessions relied exclusively on the Buchla modular synthesizer. In December 2010 he issued the remix collection Non (Blue), containing reinterpretations of Blue’s material by Big Black Delta and Ladytron.
Red arrived six months afterward as the second album, led by the track “Enough.” Another remix set followed that December, again titled Non (Blue), and included reworkings by Telefon Tel Aviv, Drumcell, and Eric Avery, the former Jane’s Addiction bassist.
After several years without new Sonoio material, during which Cortini concentrated on Nine Inch Nails tours and a run of instrumental releases under his own name, he returned in late 2014 with the online track “Thanks for Calling.” The project stayed dormant for the next three and a half years while he rejoined Nine Inch Nails and joined How to Destroy Angels with Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Mariqueen Maandig Reznor, along with other pursuits. Fine, the third Sonoio album, was released in July 2018; “Thanks for Calling” served as its lead single, and Cortini stated that the record would mark the final release under the Sonoio name.
Cortini introduced the project in summer 2010 by posting four tracks online; those pieces later formed the core of his debut album Blue, which appeared that autumn. He explained that the name derives from the Italian phrase “sono io,” or “it’s me,” and that the sessions relied exclusively on the Buchla modular synthesizer. In December 2010 he issued the remix collection Non (Blue), containing reinterpretations of Blue’s material by Big Black Delta and Ladytron.
Red arrived six months afterward as the second album, led by the track “Enough.” Another remix set followed that December, again titled Non (Blue), and included reworkings by Telefon Tel Aviv, Drumcell, and Eric Avery, the former Jane’s Addiction bassist.
After several years without new Sonoio material, during which Cortini concentrated on Nine Inch Nails tours and a run of instrumental releases under his own name, he returned in late 2014 with the online track “Thanks for Calling.” The project stayed dormant for the next three and a half years while he rejoined Nine Inch Nails and joined How to Destroy Angels with Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Mariqueen Maandig Reznor, along with other pursuits. Fine, the third Sonoio album, was released in July 2018; “Thanks for Calling” served as its lead single, and Cortini stated that the record would mark the final release under the Sonoio name.
Albums