Unthunk is honoured to have a contribution from Giovanni Grandi on The Mid-Century Molluscs perform Unthunk’s “Return to the sea”. While on vacation in the Azores, Giovanni settled into a secluded rocky bay, absorbing the ocean sounds to conceive a suitable piece. 

While originally envisioning his modular synthesizer, heavily filtered, to express the ocean’s power as heard deep within its depths, the piece evolved to include surface sounds of drips and wind and creaking decks. To incorporate the expanded perspective, Giovanni brought his vintage button accordion into the mix, evocative of pirate ships and sea shanties. The two instruments are integrated, with accordion mechanics invoking the creaking ship, and its drones processed and combined with his synth using ring modulation and filtering. The intermittent, thunderous low accordion drone supports his original conception.

The accordion’s modal melodies are appropriate to Unthunk’s early music roots, while the spacious and imaginative treatment is uniquely Giovanni Grandi. Enjoy the the Sea shanty as a special preview track on Bandcamp. The full album is available January 11, 2026.