Alternative Pop from I’m Not A Blonde

Based in Milan’s underground scene, I’m Not A Blonde is an Italian-American duo featuring the talents of Chiara Castello and Camilla Benedini who together, create electronic art pop that fuses 80s synths, brit-punk vibes and 90s melodic appeal into a sound unlike any other. Their shared sonic vision takes shape in the tension between contrasts of digital and analogue, humour and melancholy, lightness and seriousness and it’s exactly those opposing contexts that make their sound so engaging and fiercely unique.

With her background in fine art, Chiara revels in creative disorder, the noise, the texture, the imperfections that make art human. Camilla, an architect by trade, brings structure and a minimalist approach that keeps their sound taut and intentional. When brought together, they’re an elegant contradiction; two creative minds orbiting the same musical sphere from opposite directions, building songs that reflect both rigid framework and spontaneity.

Since debuting in 2016 with their first full-length recprd Introducing I’m Not a Blonde, the duo have become a permanent part of the INRI roster, steadily earning a reputation as one of Italy’s most forward-thinking electronic acts. Their 2018 follow-up, The Blonde Album and the critically praised Under the Rug unveiled the next year at Germany’s Reeperbahn Festival, confirmed their status as international exports of Italy’s flourishing alternative pop scene. With their exquisite sound design, artful lyricism and hypnotic live shows, they’ve found a home in both the European festival circuit and the hearts of listeners drawn to adventurous, meaningful pop.

Over the years, they’ve played alongside acts as varied as Duran Duran, Moderat, Soulwax, Peaches, Ghostpoet and Hurts, aligning themselves with artists who, like them, treat pop as a medium for experimentation. Now, I’m Not A Blonde return with their new single titled “To Fall,” released via INRI / METATRON, a track that distills their aesthetic and emotional writing into an intimate piece of cinematic alternative pop music. The song’s concept is born from a dreamlike image of two people walking hand in hand through surreal calm, the fragile silence between them holding both tenderness and tension.

Thematically, it’s about that quiet rupture, the split second when perfection falters and the human truth of love emerges and as the duo explain, “To Fall is about the moment the illusion shatters, but you’re still inside the dream. It’s a slow fall, almost beautiful, full of desire.” Opened by the muted bubble of instrumental tones as hushed vocalisations gently stretch out, an absorbing atmosphere wraps around the listener as the arrangement drifts into focus. With the pulse of tapped percussion and buzz of arpeggiated synths capped by emotive vocals, the song expands with steady rhythmic march and the hypnotic swirl of overlapping vocal layers.

Peppered with bright synth flickers and expressive vocal flutters, the shifting instrumentation casts a constant sense of motions and meandering directions, resulting in a wildly unique musical experience that’s moving, subtly catchy and delicately danceable throughout. It’s a magical musical moment that sees Chiara Castello and Camilla Benedini provide further proof that their engrossing artistic world is one where opposites coexist and imperfection becomes its own kind of grace.

Listen to To Fall below

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