Now he is back with “Shards”, featuring NINA, aka Nina Cristante, also one third of bar italia. The pairing makes a lot of sense considering how naturally both artists gravitate towards music that feels intimate, blurry and slightly difficult to pin down. Over Santella’s jangly, surprisingly catchy production, Cristante sounds both wounded and completely ready for revenge, moving from jealousy and obsessive memories into something much more destructive. “Shapeshifting so you can’t foresee me,” they sing early on, before the repeated “I hope you see me” starts to feel less like a plea and more like a threat. Attraction, resentment and destruction are all tangled together here.

For the video, they fittingly play with altered footage from Mr. & Mrs. Smith, while Angelina Jolie also appears on the artwork, borrowing some of the movie’s glamorous lovers at war energy.

And considering “Shards” arrives so soon after Deer Park’s collaboration with Valeria Litvakov, we cannot help wondering if all these new songs are leading towards something bigger. Nothing has been announced yet, but there is definitely enough movement around the project to make us curious.

Yves Tumor, meanwhile, continues to expand their left-field universe following the critically acclaimed 2023 album Praise A Lord Who Chews But Which Does Not Consume; (Or Simply, Hot Between Worlds).

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Their worlds collide on “WE DONT COUNT”, a hook-laden, bass-driven new wave track that feels like a shared fever dream. Propelled by hypnotic rhythms and jagged guitar stabs, the song lets Tumor and NINA’s vocals twist and coil around each other, creating something that’s both urgent and surreal. The mood carries into the shadowy black-and-white video they co-directed. The stylish, enigmatic piece matches the track’s dark pulse and swagger. It’s a collision of two singular visions, and the result feels electric.

The consuming track carries a mysterious energy and creates an almost cinematic experience, like a dream you can’t quite place. Over hazy, reverb-drenched guitars, NINA’s vocals unfold like a slow-burning confession: “I carry a tray loaded with guilt / It’s hard to balance so I’m always scared / It bends my reason / Becomes a prison.” She’s also released a video she co-directed with Simon Mercer. Check it out below.