Chris Ianuzzi – “The Bells Rang On” (Satellite Symphonics)
“Menacing creative Cheshire Cat” shouldn’t be a workable artistic identity, yet Chris Ianuzzi wears it like a badge. “The Bells Rang On” is his grin in audio: bright, impossible to fix in place, and faintly dangerous. The opening motif is a bell with bad intentions; around it, synths smear like wet paint and a rhythm section flickers between club impulse and art-school sabotage.
Ianuzzi’s recent “Reality Games” framed the news cycle with a glower; this one invents its own news—an inner broadcast where the bulletin is sensation. Hooks abound, but they behave like street performers: here, then elsewhere, drawing a crowd by refusing to stand still. The craft is surgical (Atmos-ready spatial play, tight edits) but the feel is reckless, like post-punk ethos refitted for modern circuitry.
His embrace of new tech isn’t novelty—it’s continuity. The same curiosity that led him through collaborations with Suzanne Ciani, Vangelis, and Peter Baumann fuels a present where AI-assisted visuals, custom LoRA training, and crisp compositing (with Serkan Sökmen on imagery) sit alongside analog instincts. That duality gives the single its bite: machine logic with a heartbeat.
What will divide listeners is precisely what will convert them—the refusal to explain. Ianuzzi quotes Hunter S. Thompson as a mission statement, and the track honors it: you don’t analyze a Cheshire cat; you follow it into the alley and see what steals your attention. Here, it’s the bells. They keep ringing long after the waveform ends.
Out July 25, 2025 on Satellite Symphonics (via The Orchard/Sony). Stream, save, and keep tabs on Chris Ianuzzi across his official site, Instagram, Bandcamp, Youtube & Spotify.
RIYL: Amon Tobin, Oneohtrix Point Never, Richard Devine, Ben Frost.
