I throw around the word “cinematic” a little too often to be taken seriously at face value. However, if you’ve listened to Pearz, Francesco Perini’s solo project, you’ll know that cinematic is the only appropriate adjective with which to describe his wistful vintage sounds. He said so himself, when mentioning the great masters of Italian film that inspired his work. From Piero Piccioni to Ennio Morricone, passing through Piero Umiliani and Riz Ortolani, the references are present both in the choice of sonorities and in the nostalgic vibes, creating a near-visual experience for the non-synesthetic.

Like many others, Pearz’ music is lockdown-conceived, lockdown-recorded, and lockdown-released. But unlike a lot of the music that has been written during that strange time, Pearz’ work takes inspiration from a shared sense of uneasiness and heavy-heartedness without being constrained by it. Sophisticated hip hop jams seamlessly link with an exquisitely French touch of coolness - melancholia and existential dread as a common denominator. It’s music that would be perfect to accompany the end of a summer, it’s a pitcher of ice-cold Campari spritz at the end of September, when the days start getting shorter, and everyone is secretly longing for the months to roll backwards to the excitement of when it all began.

Pearz’ performance at Act Cool is among the first ones he played with a live band. Francesco enrolled some old friends - Mike Sutton and Ruairi Mehan on guitars, Gimmi El Helou on drums, and the Maestro Marlon Bianco on percussion.