Nuovo Testamento’s “Michelle Michelle” is an Italo-Infused Dance Dream

Photo: Andrew Kuykendall

Now I feel you getting colder
I’m your prisoner of love, losing my mind
And you’re fading, but say “baby”
Til you burn me with a final kiss, tell me that her name is
Michelle Michelle

As the first single from their forthcoming full-length LP, New Earth, Nuovo Testamento delivers an Italo-disco-infused dance track with “Michelle Michelle.” The group’s synth-pop sensibilities reflect slick and addictive productions from the mid-1980s, not far from the melancholy-dipped dance floor tracks from artists such as The Twins, Tapps, or Valerie Dore (though fans of current bands like Vandal Moon or Double Echo will enjoy it just as much). “Michelle Michelle” is a song about heartbreak, regret, and acceptance—universal themes charged with a strong beat, tearful synth pads, and catchy hooks throughout. Vocalist Chelsey Crowley sings: Had to find a way / You had to get away / But it’s too late, one of us made a mistake / You had to get away.

Listen to the fantastic “Michelle Michelle” below:

Nuovo Testamento—the Los Angeles and Bologna-based trio—is comprised of members from post-punk and deathrock acts Horror Vacui, Sheer Mag, Tørsö, Terremoto, and Crimson Scarlet. Crowley adds a layer of sweetness over the music of Andrea Mantione and Giacomo Zatti that reflects the band’s affinity for Italo disco, Hi-NRG, synthpop, and goth genres under one umbrella.

Mixed and mastered by sound engineer Maurizio Baggio (The Soft Moon, Boy Harsher), with Crowley’s vocals recorded by her longtime collaborator Riki at the Lily Pad in Los Angeles, the deeply affecting album was written during quarantine in isolation. With a resilient hopefulness, New Earth is a new direction for the band following their 2019 debut EP Exposure, which acts as a primer for the eventual return to foggy club spaces where freedom and dancing abounds.

Nuovo Testamento’s New Earth is available June 30th via Avant! Records. (US pre-orders here)

Pre-order here

*Photography by Andrew Kuykendall

Andi Harriman

Andi Harriman is the author of "Some Wear Leather, Some Wear Lace: The Worldwide Compendium of Postpunk and Goth in the 1980s." She resides in Brooklyn, New York where she writes, DJs and lectures on all things dark and gloomy.