We’re very glad to be sharing ‘Windrose’, the debut album from Sebastian Brown, the musical guise of Rome-born musician Daniele Mattioni.

Released on June 26 through Beautiful Losers, ‘Windrose’ is a deeply personal collection of songs that wanders through folk, blues and psychedelic sounds. Much of it grew out of long late-night sessions, with songs taking shape organically through improvisation and experimentation. There’s an old-world feel to the record, a sense of mystery, yet it remains warm and entirely its own.

Mattioni taught himself to play and has spent years recording music at his home in the woods, handling every instrument himself. The pieces that became ‘Windrose’ began as acoustic guitar sketches and improvisations before gradually taking shape with vocals, electric guitars, bass, synthesisers and percussion. The finished album roams freely, touching on folk traditions, rough-hewn blues, Eastern influences and more exploratory passages along the way.

The record was brought into its final form with the help of Andrea Liuzza, founder of Beautiful Losers and producer of the album. Working from Daniele’s original home recordings, Liuzza helped edit, mix and master the material while preserving the natural, unforced character of the performances.

At its heart, ‘Windrose’ is concerned with direction and the search for a centre. Each track takes its name from a point of the compass, and together they trace a path that is both inward and outward. As Daniele sees it, the four directions form a cross that each of us must travel in order to discover our own centre — our own “Windrose”.

The album is accompanied by the short film ‘Westwards’, a 14-minute-and-41-second piece created by Sebastian Brown himself. It offers a fitting introduction to the world of the record: thoughtful, dreamlike and rich with symbolic imagery.