15 Italian Indie Artists You Need to Know Today

From rock tenors, psychedelic heroes to electronic poetry and industrial beats, Italian music has so much to offer than romantic pop.

There is a misconception that Italian music is dated, tacky and too corny. Even my Italian friends don’t understand how I listen to artists from their home country. But to be honest most of them don’t know the tracks when I play for them. But if you listen without prejudice, an entire universe can open up before your eyes (ears?).

Today’s Italian indie music scene is accessible, diverse and melodically perfect for the state of the world today. Its innocence is a breath of fresh air, its poetry can amuse and confuse. Younger artists such as Calcutta and Gazzelle travel intensely between lanes of joy and melancholy, disarming the listener before delivering a punch to the stomach. There is the dramatic play of Viito and the irreverence of Pinguini Tattici Nucleari. Popstars with a pedigree like Tommaso Paradiso, who left his band, Thegiornalisti, as soon as they climbed to the summit of success. There is the classic traditionalism of Diodato, the star of the last San Remo Festival, the most important cultural event in the country.