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Porcelain Raft's "Drifting In And Out" is the opening track to his debut full length, Strange Weekend. It's the Italian born singer's anthemic, gauzy and chiming cavalry call to arms. The 7"s b-side, "Chain", astutely balances melancholy and wistfulness. Remiddi does his best heart string pulling to date as he sings "and I feel something/something I cannot deny/half my life behind."

Porcelain Raft's thesis statement hits when side B kicks off with "Unless You Speak From Your Heart." Remiddi's enigmatic vocals carrying a hook so simple that you might think you sang it first; keys and bass that might make the needle jump off of your turntable; and a sense of raw sincerity that has come to trademark Remiddi's songs is what ultimately resonates. The b-side, "Something In Between," with it's shimmering Cocteau Twins guitar line, cleft bass, and colorful reverb is the gentlest of tornados. One that's sturdy enough to pick you up & take you for a spin but at, the end, sits you back down leaving you feeling like you just had your first Summer romance.

Remiddi's androgynous vapor of a voice weaves like a ghost between Nick Gilder and The Alessi Brothers, Julee Cruise and Judee Sill. In more contemporary terms, Porcelain Raft stands confidently on a high hill between the sounds of M83 and Beach House. Lead track "Drifting In and Out" is loping and anthemic; gauzy and chiming. "Shapeless and Gone" follows with a heavy strum reminiscent of "Cosmic Dancer" -- full of mood and style without all the wearying excesses and feathered boas. Porcelain Raft's thesis statement hits when side B kicks off with "Unless You Speak From Your Heart." Remiddi's androgynous vocals carrying a hook so simple that you might think you sang it first; keys and bass that might make the needle jump off of your turntable; and a sense of raw sincerity that has come to trademark Remiddi's songs is what ultimately resonates.

Porcelain Raft is the nom de plume of one Mauro Remiddi, Rome native, music/video mastermind and purveyor of some of the most exquisite, haunting and heartbreaking love songs you're likely to hear in a good long while. Unsurprisingly, for someone who started off in music scoring short films, the world of Porcelain Raft traverses deeply evocative and emotive terrain, gorgeously redolent of moments lingering just on the fraying edges of time and memory.

Together, these tracks serve to announce Porcelain Raft as an important new name to watch, and, as anybody who has caught him live recently (supporting the likes of Blonde Redhead on their recent European tour or at several showcase at CMJ 2010) will attest, a beautifully compelling live act as well.