ashes-©-Aria-Ruffini-2025
A year after the release of “Forma Liquida”, Ceneri returns with “come nettles in cement”, an EP that smacks of introspection and experimentation, where the voice and images become living material, weaving a dialogue between sound, memory and urban space.
The young Friulian singer-songwriter (born in 2000) explores her roots with a curious gaze, observing both her experience and what surrounds her, and she does so with a musicality that oscillates between organic electronics and acoustic atmospheres, sometimes rarefied, sometimes intense and enveloping.
We met her. Here is the story of the journey “like nettles in concrete”.
THE INTERVIEW
Your EP came out a few days ago. What feedback are you getting?
For now I'm very happy: the feedback is positive. But I don't look for immediacy, I prefer that things settle, that listening matures over time.
I'm not in a hurry: I'm interested in the album finding its natural rhythm.
“like nettles in concrete” seems like an emotional diary. How much is autobiographical and how much comes from what you observe in others?
I would say both. I am introverted, reflective, so I often start from what affects me personally. But I'm also learning to let other people's stories, conversations, impressions, random stories pass through me. There is always something to learn, and this helps me better understand my surroundings.
Was there a specific moment that triggered the urgency of the record?
I wouldn't say a big bang. It was more of a continuous process: after “Forma Liquida” I continued to write, and I still continue to write. Over time I realize that certain themes return, insist, ask for space. When an emotional core returns so often, I understand that this is the material to go through.
What were your musical references for this work?
I heard very different things. Definitely Radiohead: that way of fusing electronics and acoustic materiality has always fascinated me. And then Caroline Polachek, who I adore for her operatic background and her very elastic vocal lines. It inspired me a lot to use my voice in a different, freer way.
Your music has a very strong visual component. How important is image to you?
Very much. I come from graphic design studies, so the visual aspect is in my DNA. I don't think of disciplines as watertight compartments: I like to combine different languages, let myself be inspired by photographs, videos, atmospheres. I often write starting from mental images.
The cover is very evocative: chrysanthemums, soil, concrete. How was it born?
From a reflection on the title: “like nettles in concrete”. I wanted to represent the tension between nature and artifice. I love chrysanthemums, even if they have a somewhat sad reputation: I think they are beautiful and I wanted to rehabilitate them visually. With a very good photographer, Aria Ruffiniwe tried to combine these two worlds – organic and urban – into a single image.
We are at the end of 2025, Spotify's Wrapped period. How was yours?
Embarrassing! It gave me a listening age of 45 (laughs). In reality my Spotify has been completely monopolized by Elliott Smith: top artist, top album, top song… all his. I'm listening to it almost obsessively, and it's inspiring me a lot in my post-EP writing.
Have you lived in Milan for a while?
Since February. I'm still settling in, but the city is stimulating me a lot.
Do you already have any upcoming lives in mind?
Yes, we are defining how to move after the release of the album. For now I can tell you that we will do a small acoustic live in Milan on December 18th, with the editorial staff of Scomodo. I really like their editorial approach, so it's an appointment I care about a lot.
LISTEN TO THE RECORD
VIDEO
ABOUT
Irene Ciol aka Ceneri, is a Friulian singer-songwriter born in 2000. Born in the province of Pordenone, in a small village of 8000 souls among the fields, she grew up breathing art and good air. An incessant desire to experiment and create led her to tackle painting and then photography from a very young age, a passion she inherited from her grandfather and father. In 2016, thanks to a song writing course, she approached music, a universe that allowed her to find a way to tell her story, express herself and understand herself. From then on he never abandoned him again. In 2022 his first EP “Nello spazio che resta” produced by B-CROMA was released for peermusic ITALY, presented at MI AMI 2022 and followed by a summer tour in the main Italian cities curated by BPM concerts. Almost a year after the release of the EP, which immediately entered the major editorial playlists of reference (Indie Italia, New Music Friday, Equal Italia) and preceded by the singles “Lucchetti” and “Appartamento”, the EP “Nelle testi degli altri” was released in 2023, the second part which defines and completes the story begun with “Nello spazio che resta” and then the single “Porta” was released. In 2024 he began his journey with Double Trouble Club, a label and management agency founded by Jacopo Pesce and Max Brigante, in collaboration with Island Records/Universal Music Italy. The songs released for the label are: “Ultima Festa”, “Ritornerò”, followed by “Periferia” and “Senza Stelle” and “Ghiaccio” feat Chiello, the last single which anticipates the release of the debut album “Forma Liquida”. After the release, in May 2025, of the single “due lune”, ceneri is the protagonist of a series of concerts as the official opening of Chiello's club tour and subsequently is on the stage of Mi Ami 2025. This is followed by the publication of the song “almost suddenly” while in September the new single “mood swings” is released again for Double Trouble Club/Island Records (Universal Music Italia). In the same period, Irene took part in an international writing camp, the only Italian artist – out of 12 total participants – chosen from more than 400 applications from all over Europe. On November 14th the new single “ragnatela” will be released which anticipates the EP “come nettles in cement” out on November 28th again for Double Trouble Club/Island Records (Universal Music Italia).
WEB & SOCIAL
@soloceneri
