Out now: bar italia – Some Like It Hot

bar italia unveil their new album Some Like It Hot, out today! Ahead of the release they shared new single ‘omni shambles’, a taut rocker veering between syncopated, angular riffs and cathartic singalong within an action-packed 2 minutes.

Marking the album’s release, bar italia host a series of special events: an exhibition of the band’s drawings at London’s General Assembly gallery on October 16 — their third following shows at Frieze Gallery (London) and Triest Gallery (New York) — a sold-out in-store at Rough Trade East on October 17, and a sold-out headline show at the Dome on October 18.

The band recently announced further live dates across Australia, New Zealand, Japan, the UK and Europe, including their biggest headline to date on March 26 at The Roundhouse in London. A full live schedule is below and tickets are available at baritaliaa.com.

Some Like It Hot is a 1959 film starring Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon about a group of rogue musicians on the adventure path. It is funny, sexy, rambunctious and evergreen – a showcase of a triple-threat cast at full-throttle. Certain parallels are perhaps not accidental. The new album by bar italia pulses with romance, intrigue, self-discovery and rapture over lustful rockers, spellbinding folk pop, punch-drunk ballads and undefinable moments that sneak up on you like a burst of 5pm sunshine. The record is the culmination of the joint world of Nina Cristante, Jezmi Tarik Fehmi and Sam Fenton – three singer-songwriters who have transcended their underground roots to embrace a bold, widescreen horizon.

The cultivation of their sound, from early homespun recordings like hand drawn sketches (the band presented an exhibition of their drawings in 2023) into the ceiling-wide brush strokes of Some Like It Hot, was chiselled via relentless writing and touring. When bar italia emerged in 2023 from an underground following to release two critically acclaimed albums on Matador only several months apart – the poised Tracey Denim and the grand The Twits – they were a shy, eye-contact-avoiding band, starting sets in darkness and just as soon disappearing backstage. They spent the next two years traversing the globe, with headline performances from Istanbul to Tokyo, sold-out multi-night stints in New York and Los Angeles, and festivals including Corona Capital, Glastonbury and Coachella. With over 160 shows worldwide across 2023-2024, they dispelled any mystique by becoming an exhibitionist and muscular five-piece that gives multiple encores – equally comfortable at festival mosh-pit incitement and moments of pin-drop intimacy.

Some Like It Hot is telling of this journey: a collection of rock songs voraciously embracing the main stage. The lightning choruses of ‘omni shambles’ and ‘Eyepatch’ show a band who have mastered melding their idiosyncrasies into tightly coiled pop songs. A pining for tangibility abounds: “just show me the face that you’ve been trying to hide”, Fenton opines on the Balkan-tinged waltz of ‘bad reputation’. Other songs surrender to abandon wholesale: “I was lost to the world from the moment we kissed”, Fenton sings on ‘rooster’, while on the 12-string new wave majesty of ‘Lioness’, Fehmi states, “You have no idea what I can do for you when I’m in this mood”.

bar italia have married their serious and heartfelt subject matter with a joy in showmanship. These are songs that twist their quirks into huge choruses, and find elevation in tension, playing with self-identity, emotion and performance until the lines blur. That 1959 Hollywood classic from which the album takes its name ends with the immortal line: “Well, nobody’s perfect.” This, however, comes pretty close.

Listen / purchase Some Like It Hot here.

bar italia – Some Like It Hot Australian Tour

6th December – Meredith Music Festival, Meredith
7th December – Northcote Theatre, Melbourne
10th December – The Metro, Sydney
11th December – Crowbar, Brisbane

Tickets at mistletone.net