There is a tension in the moment just before someone fully steps into themselves. It is the space where vulnerability meets curiosity, where past experiences meet untested possibilities. For LESS, the Naples-born singer-songwriter, that tension exists in every note she sings and every lyric she writes. Her new single, “Instead of Making Love (Say Hello),” feels like a document of that transitional space — a track both nostalgic and forward-looking, intimate yet expansive.
Recorded entirely on analog machines at Kapow Vintage Studio in Florence, the song captures the warmth and intimacy of early 2000s pop, while threading in subtle sophistication that only comes with experience. LESS’s voice, expressive and unpolished, carries an emotional honesty that is immediately palpable. Listening to it is like stepping into a diary that knows how to hold you in both joy and melancholy.
LESS was born on January 16, 2001, in Naples and spent her early years in Arzano. The daughter of two leather workers, she grew up moving constantly, learning from a young age the value of resilience and adaptability. “Beyond the artist side, I think it shaped who I am as a person, and from there, the artist followed,” she reflects. Her family relocated to Fano when she was eight and later to Scandicci at eleven, a move that coincided with the loss of her grandmother, a central figure in her childhood. Those early experiences, marked by upheaval and adaptation, would become inseparable from her music.
Music became LESS’s constant companion. She discovered the guitar at twelve and paired it with her voice to explore the world around her. Songwriting, initially a playful experiment, quickly evolved into an authentic channel for expression. Adolescence brought self-discovery, including the realization of her sexual orientation at fourteen. While this caused tensions at home, music became her shelter, a place where she could articulate her truth. “For me, moments of greatest pain or chaos always turn into a song. When I’m alone with my thoughts, there’s always a melody that shows up and eases things a bit,” she explains.
Over time, her songwriting became a map of both geography and emotion. Tracks like “Why Do You Lie?” and “Hole” transform personal experience into art, turning confusion, heartbreak, and self-reflection into music that resonates beyond her own life. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she invested in a home studio, writing and recording with an intensity that would define her next chapter. It was here that she met producers Lorenzo Santi and Federico Maremmi, along with Marco Lega, whose collaboration has since become central to her sound. “It influenced me a lot. They used to listen to genres totally different from mine, and over the years I’ve gotten closer to their way of feeling music. That gave me a lot of courage and freedom to express myself, and it helped me sharpen my own taste,” she says.
“Instead of Making Love (Say Hello)” emerges from this environment of collaboration and exploration. Its early 2000s vibe is intentional. “Well, as always, my songs start from the lyrics and a melody that keeps playing in my head. Then everything is arranged by my producers, who have a very different background from mine, creating this mix,” she says, emphasizing the interplay between her vision and the eclectic musical backgrounds of her collaborators. The analog recording process allows the imperfections, the human warmth, and the intimacy of her voice to shine, adding texture to the track’s ironic yet tender tone.
This blend of vulnerability and quiet strength has always been central to LESS’s work. “I’m a pretty ironic person, so it just comes naturally when I write. Those are literally my thoughts as they come,” she notes. It is a voice that navigates humor and tenderness with ease, creating songs that are honest, relatable, and emotionally layered. That balance has become a signature of her artistry — the ability to express personal truth without losing sight of musicality or narrative.
Her nomadic upbringing continues to inform both her identity and her music. “My first years away from home were really tough; I was young and felt pretty alone. That’s actually one of the reasons I started writing,” she explains. Those years cultivated an acute sense of observation, a sensitivity to emotional and physical landscapes that permeates her lyrics. Each song feels like a small map of experience, reflecting both the inner and outer world she navigated growing up.
Growth and self-discovery remain recurring themes in LESS’s music. “It’s a completely natural process. Letting out any negative experience or emotion, then going back to read or listen to it, helps me grow. And imagine doing that for ten years straight!” she reflects. Her music tracks the slow, iterative process of becoming — the repetition of reflection, the confrontation of personal truths, and the willingness to be honest with oneself. Songs like “Asking for a Change” and “Up and Down” capture this ongoing journey, translating personal development into melodic form.
The international response to “Instead of Making Love (Say Hello)” is already promising. The track has been included in compilations and pre-selected for major European festivals, signaling a broader resonance beyond Italy, where English-language music does not always receive widespread support. “It feels great and really rewarding, but I know it’s just the beginning. Starting from Italy is definitely a challenge, but I know I’ll make it,” she says. Her ambitions extend far beyond national recognition, seeking connection with listeners who can find themselves within her music, regardless of borders.
LESS’s cinematic approach to sound adds another layer of depth to her work. Her songs feel visual, textured, and tactile, the kind of music that almost exists in color. “Everything comes together while the song is taking shape. Once the mood is clear, I start building all the visuals based on the message I want to get across,” she explains. Whether it’s the careful placement of reverb, the warmth of analog instrumentation, or her own vocal phrasing, each element contributes to a multidimensional listening experience. It is a method that invites her audience not just to hear, but to inhabit her world.
Her upcoming album, LOVELESS, promises to expand on these qualities. “I’d love for people to see themselves in each song, and find a different meaning in each one. Loveless didn’t start out as a concept album, but it kind of became one, and I hope listeners can make those emotions their own,” she says. The record is expected to weave personal storytelling with universal themes, creating a landscape where each listener can trace their own reflections alongside her narratives.
LESS’s music is grounded in real experiences, but it is also fearless in its aspirations. “I guess I burned quite a bit of ground around me before realizing I could just do what I wanted without worrying about what people might think,” she admits, reflecting on the personal liberation that informs her latest work. There is a clear sense that her artistic journey is one of self-determination — an embrace of autonomy over expectation, intuition over convention. The result is music that exists in the spaces between moments: between nostalgia and the present, between tenderness and irony, between the self she was and the self she is becoming. “Instead of Making Love (Say Hello)” is a marker of that space, a record of her evolving voice, her emotional landscape, and her dedication to crafting songs that reflect who she is and who she continues to become.
By integrating the lessons of her past, the mentorship of her collaborators, and the immediacy of her own emotional truth, LESS has produced work that is intimate, ambitious, and entirely her own. At twenty-two, she is no longer just the girl who discovered the guitar in her bedroom in Arzano. She is a musician navigating identity, sound, and emotion with clarity and courage. Her songs are confessional without being private, universal without being generic, and endlessly compelling in their honesty.
As LOVELESS approaches, one can expect a body of work that is cinematic, introspective, and deeply personal, but also open-ended, inviting listeners to interpret and inhabit the emotions she has rendered so vividly in music. LESS is creating in a space that is uniquely hers — analog, emotive, and unapologetically authentic.
Featured Images: Artist Supplied
