XXYBRID

Naple’s “musica neomelodica” is a strange beast: a mix of traditional Neapolitan music, europop, and a dash of Latin American music, it’s up there with pizza and arlecchino when it comes to archetypal Neapolitan symbols. The songs often rely on heavily gendered stereotypes — emotionally possessive, borderline criminal men with big cars and women who wait at home pining and cooking — to weave their dramatic, romantic stories. But on their new project Neapolitan non-binary artists Nziria turns these narratives on their head, integrating themes of queerness and fluid identities into this usually so heteronormative genre, and entwining elements of Neapolitan folklore with modern-day tales. Nziria’s voice has all the power and emotion of the traditional Neomelodic stars, but she transforms the usually saccharine Neomelidoc style by bolstering it with trancey atmospheres and gabber -inspired rhythms (like on “Hard Tarantella”).