A sonic departure from his eponymous material as well as his collaborative work with
Trent Reznor's
Nine Inch Nails and
How to Destroy Angels,
Sonoio is the alternative electronic project from Italian musician and songwriter
Alessandro Cortini. The project is known for traversing various aspects of indie rock and synth pop, delivered on albums such as 2011's Red and 2018's
Fine.
Cortini debuted the project in the summer of 2010 with four tracks online, which would appear on his debut LP, Blue, released later that fall. Explaining that the project name stems from the Italian phrase "sono io" ("it's me"),
Cortini also announced that the effort was recorded entirely with one of his favorite instruments, the Buchla modular synthesizer. He put out a remix album of the record in December of 2010 titled Non (Blue), which featured reinterpretations of Blue's tracks from the likes of
Big Black Delta and
Ladytron.
Sonoio's sophomore effort, Red, arrived six months later and featured one of the project's definitive tracks, "Enough," as its lead single. Another companion remix album arrived later that December and, in keeping with the theme of previous efforts, was titled Non (Blue). The release featured remixes from
Telefon Tel Aviv,
Drumcell, and erstwhile
Jane's Addiction bassist
Eric Avery.
Several years of inactivity followed while
Cortini focused on working and touring with
Nine Inch Nails and creating a string of instrumental records under his own name. He returned with new
Sonoio material in late 2014, a song titled "Thanks for Calling," which he had made available online. The project remained quiet for the next three and a half years while he returned to his duties in
Nine Inch Nails and worked with
Reznor,
Atticus Ross, and Mariqueen Maandig Reznor in a new band called
How to Destroy Angels in addition to other creative endeavors.
Sonoio's third record,
Fine, was released in July 2018. "Thanks for Calling" appeared on the LP as its lead single, and
Cortini announced that the record would be the last under the
Sonoio moniker. ~ Rob Wacey