Sounds Familiar celebrates 10-year anniversary with three-volume collection of future-facing dance music. Rome-based artist agency Sounds Familiar will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with a triple LP collection released in three 6-track volumes, bringing together 18 artists from across the Sounds Familiar roster.
Released on 21st April 2023, Familiar Sounds Vol. 1 features new music by Dego ft. Lord, Kamma & Masalo, Aleqs Notal ft. Anu, Kai Alcé, Retromigration and Hugo LX, reflecting the broad church of soulful dance music that has come to define Sounds Familiar over the last decade.

The album begins with Dego's supreme machine funk - a liquid bassline connecting seamlessly across the shuffling broken beat drums of 'Bluetooth Headset'. Things go up a gear on track two, with Kamma and Masalo's cosmically-aligned acid supernova 'Neon Ocean', before Aleqs Notal serves up a slice of fluttering deep house on 'Reminder of Tomorrow', voiced by the brooding spoken word of London-based producer, illustrator, radio host and DJ anu, interpreting the poem 'Restraint' by poet Hibaq Osman.
Floating in on a jazzier tip, the B-Side hears Kai Alcé go nocturnal on 'Late Night Submersion', following serpentine saxophone lines down the rabbit hole and into the early hours. Retromigration keeps the mood smooth as in-the-pocket sax and flute improvisations weave a low-lit spell into the fabric of the groove, before Hugo LX steps up the snap-back drums on 'Sunday Night Service', propelled by a fluid and angular drive that closes out the compilation in style.

This is not the first time that Sounds Familiar has ventured into releasing new music from its artists. In the early years SF produced a set of limited 45s, collaborated with Salsoul on a compilation of reworks and re-edits, and in May 2021 launched 7 Inch Nails, a 7" series of dance floor jams that has featured Dego, Kaidi and K15.

"We grew organically into something more than just a platform for artists," says founder Ornella Cicchetti, who launched SF in 2013 with the desire to offer artists support, network and expertise built over 30 years in the industry. "My idea of SF is to be able to embrace new adventures."

Built on an ethos of community, Sounds Familiar also opened its own record shop in the heart of Rome's Trastevere district in early 2023, and will embark on a series of events in London, Berlin and beyond in the coming months.
The release of Familiar Sounds Vol. 1 will be followed by Volume 2 in July and Volume 3 in October 2023. Keeping it in the family, all three volumes will feature artwork and creative direction by SF logo creator and long-time collaborator Tyler Askew, and will be pressed and distributed by Patrick Gibin's Verona-based Mother Tongue Records.