De Gennaro, Matthew

A colorful world emerges from Fireflies, the latest & most distinct statement yet conjured by Matthew De Gennaro. Everyday moments, from the mysterious to the joyful to the still and most points in between, are traversed in this set of shifting stories (mostly wordless). Echoes of Reiko and Tori Kudo, Bruce Langhorne’s The Hired Hand soundtrack and Souled American tether the otherworldly compositions to our plane, if only slightly. De Gennaro’s own personal micro-orchestra of arcane sounds—augmented on Firefles by past collaborators Jameson Sweiger and Scott Tuma and draped in artwork by Scott Macleod—have rarely sounded as spry or stark. And as with all of his records, Fireflies rewards attentiveness with rippling beauty. 

Matthew De Gennaro has been active on the margins for more than 25 years, composing and home recording out-of-time works centered on arcane instruments and crumbling equipment. His first forays into public consciousness and consumption were the works he produced in tandem with Alistair Galbriath, issued by Corpus Hermeticum, Emperor Jones and others. The Michigan native relocated several times in recent years, and has finally resettled in rural southern Indiana, where his quietly prolific streak continues.