An Italian in Berlin has made a full-length album in which the Italian language works as an instrument
Twelve tracks whose titles set Italian next to Spanish, with the language working as an instrument rather than a quotation. The road to this full-length took four years.
Sam Ruffillo has released ‘Tipo Così’ — a full-length album of twelve slots.
It came out on 10 October 2025 on the Berlin label Toy Tonics. The line-up is recorded in the Apple Music catalogue.
The title translates roughly as ‘like this’ — and this is the rare case where the Italian in the titles is not decoration. ‘House Tipo Così’, ‘Perfetta Così’, ‘Chiamami Subito’, ‘80 Voglia Di Calcio’: Ruffillo really does work with italo disco as a native language rather than as a quotation.
Toy Tonics is the Berlin label that brought groove with a live bassline back into fashion, without a hint of nostalgia. Ruffillo belongs to its circle, and his records are recognisable at once.
The road to the album was long: ‘Italianissimo’ (2021) with its sequel ‘Italianissimo, Pt. 2’ (2022), ‘Brooklyn Tapes’ (2023) and ‘Robot Salsa’ (2024).
His 2025 began with a run of joint releases with Kapote: on 30 May came ‘Rico Suave’ featuring ALOT, ‘La La Tune’ with Aroop Roy and the remix EP ‘Robot Salsa Remix’, which drew in A-Trak.
And on 18 June 2025 came a remix made with Simon Says! of Zucchero’s ‘X Colpa Di Chi?’ — proof that the Italian line in his work is a programme, not a joke.
The Italian line he began back on ‘Italianissimo’ has stopped being a device on this record and become a way of speaking.
Read also
DOROFEEVA counted down the steps to the premiere on her own channel — and released ‘747’
Four forty-six with no concession to radio: HUGEL has released ‘One More Round’
Catching Flies returned to the Californian town where his album began — this time with TEED alongside him
They wrote the mixtape on a live stream and refused to switch it off until it was done
Miss Monique brought Robbie Williams to the Tomorrowland Mainstage — and played a track nobody had heard
Salif Keita’s voice returns to the dancefloor — this time in an Afro-house frame
Thirteen years of silence: Dave Angel returns with an album rooted in jazz and soul
Swedish House Mafia are back with ‘Happiness Is So Sad’, featuring Lykke Li
Comments
Loading…