Although on the pages of OndaRock we appreciated Giulia Parin Zecchin's voice in the project Sacred Grove (“Gem” now dates back to 2023), it must be said that for over a decade the Venetian artist (as well as poet) has been known above all as an individual entity. Let's talk about Julinko, a name capable of combining ethereal visions and lunges doomgazefor a pagan ritual already worthy of attention in the past.
“Naebula” is an album that slips into the most nocturnal and twilight minimalism, a work where the vocals of Giulia represent a pillar and no longer a simple accompaniment. Here the references are even more transversal: from Jarboe to Sinead O'Connorup to the recent dark-folk derivatives so dear to us Anna Von Hausswolff (the use of the organ, decisive in some passages, brings back into circulation those atmospheres already properly shaped by the Swedish musician).
It is the central part of the work that sends little shivers down our spines, starting with the introspective notes of “Skin Dress”, one of the highest moments of the album. “Unleash” is also very good, a sort of prayer-drone drenched in ecstasy noir and of dark omens, as well as the long ambient procession of “Kiss The Lion's Tongue” (nine minutes in which Julinko's soul reflects a dimension as ethereal as it is hallucinated).
Among the notes of “Naebula” not only can one breathe a greater artistic awareness, but one perceives that desire to ride even deeper currents, without denying the old repertoire (the electric surge of the short but effective “Throw Ashes”). Because here the fateful transition from doomgaze of the previous “Nèktar” (2019) al dreamgaze of this new glacial appointment, an intimate, dreamy and deliberately repetitive record but at the same time full of vital cosmic energy. After all, in Julinko's music, the sky is constantly cut by clouds (listen to the surprising “Cloudmachine”) and by a tension that is discharged into the earth, into the bowels of an arcane place where every ritual turns into catharsis.
02/03/2026
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM
