Newpoli’s Carmen Marsico, Angela Rossi and Fabio Pirozzolo grew up hearing the ornaments and songs in their corner of southern Italy, Campania and Basilicata: The ballads and women’s songs vibrating with intricate ornaments, the voices raised at church or in kitchens to the thrum of the tamburello. Yet over time, they and their musical kindred spirits in the Boston-based band began to hear other things, the microtonal and rhythmic moments that hinted at a wider musical world.

From bare field recordings to passionately arranged traditional and original pieces,Newpoli traces and expands these sounds on Mediterraneo (release: October 4, 2018). Chants, pizzicas and tarantellas (the latter performed to counteract the stultifying effects of spider bites) cross paths with new songs and tunes and instruments, insisting we bond more closely with both neighbors and the newcomers in our midst.