Fabrizio Paterlini Announces New Album 'Layers Naked'; Releases Single "Death Is Not The End" (Feat. lyrics by Robert Gates and vocals by Leisy"

Italian composer and pianist Fabrizio Paterlini will release Layers Naked (feat. LoopArc) on November 6. The album is a reimagining of his 2025 record Layers, recorded live and entirely unedited with violinist Stefano Zeni and cellist Marco Remondini — together known as LoopArc — who joined Paterlini on tour for the original album.

The album announcement arrives alongside the release of its closing track, “Death Is Not the End”. The song grows out of “Chained Melody,” which appears earlier on the record, and marks the first time one of Paterlini's compositions has been given words. The lyrics were written by Robert Gates, a monk who writes theological texts for his monastery and lyrics inspired by music he loves in his own time, and are sung by Leisy, a young Italian singer at the start of her career.

Listen to “Death Is Not the End” HERE

Pre-save Layers Naked HERE

In his own words, Paterlini describes how the song came together: "The story behind "Death Is Not the End" is probably the most unexpected one on the album.One day I received a message from Robert Gates, asking if I would be interested in reading a text he had written after listening to Chained Melody. I accepted out of curiosity. What I found was a beautiful piece of writing, carrying a message of hope and quiet reassurance. After all, what could be more comforting than the idea that death is not the end? As we kept in touch, Robert told me a little more about himself. He is a monk and, alongside the theological writing he does for his monastery, he enjoys writing lyrics inspired by music that deeply moves him. At that point the idea became obvious. Instead of simply reading his words, why not let them return to the music that had inspired them in the first place? It felt like a natural meeting between two different forms of expression.

Through my friend and songwriter Vincenzo Fasano, I was introduced to Leisy. I had already sketched a vocal melody around Robert's lyrics, and from the very first take she understood exactly where the song wanted to go. There was no need to search for the right interpretation. She simply found it. The trio creates the space, Robert gives the music its words, and Leisy gives those words a voice. Looking back, I can't imagine a more fitting way to end Layers Naked. — Fabrizio Paterlini

The project grew out of the trio's live performances. Although Layers had been built around loops, electronics and layered arrangements, the three musicians found themselves improvising and stepping outside those structures on stage night after night.

Curious whether the compositions could stand on their own, Paterlini brought Zeni and Remondini into the studio without written arrangements: before each take, the three simply talked through the piece, shared an intention, and played. Most tracks were captured in two or three complete takes, recorded live in one room with no editing possible — a constraint the trio embraced as part of the record's identity. When selecting the recordings, the trio often favoured the the take that felt more alive over the technically cleaner one, deliberately choosing to preserve even the small imperfections. Vertical Limit is the only track on the album that exists in a single take, the first and only one the trio ever recorded.

Layers Naked is also the first album Paterlini has recorded, mixed and mastered entirely on his own.