For years, a cutting-edge festival has enlivened Ogliastra, always offering top-notch performances: and even in its Cagliari version, Set To Sun stands out with a lineup that already featured British acts Mammal Hands on Saturday, and which will continue until December 18th.

Expected on Thursday the 11th are Gianni Maroccolo (Litfiba, Csi and Marlene Kuntz) and Hugo Race (formerly of Nick Cave's Bad Seeds), guests at the Auditorium of Palazzo Cis with "The Vigil", a collaborative album released this year.

This is just the latest stop for Maroccolo, who spent his youth in Sardinia and matured as an acclaimed guru of Italian music. He made his debut in 1980 with Litifiba, launching into production with Joe Perrino and the Mellowtones, and later forging the Consorzio Suonatori Indipedenti and its associated label, through which he collaborated with CCCP, Marlene Kuntz, Bandabardò, Yo Yo Mundi, and many others. Beginning with Per Grazia Ricevuta and his solo projects, including his debut featuring guests Carmen Consoli, Manuel Agnelli, Battiato, and Jovanotti, the new millennium saw "Marok" reunite with old bands and launch new ventures such as "Vdb23/Nulla è andato perso" with Claudio Rocchi, projects with Edda, and the tribute album to Gavinuccio Canu, "Lievi Favole."

There is also the recent partnership with Australian artist Hugo Race, once in Nick Cave's iconic Bad Seeds, then left to lead Wreckery.

Having moved to Berlin to develop the group The True Spirit, Race became interested in Italian music in the 2000s. And it was in 2022 that he and Maroccolo foreshadowed a collaboration, with "The Vigil" finally seeing the light of day last April: "Marok" (bass, synth, and electronics) and Race (vocals, guitar, keyboards, and electronics) were joined by Andrea Pelosini (drums), Antonio Aiazzi (piano and organ), and Nicola Baronti (synth, electronics, and percussion) for a three-year effort between Australia and Tuscany. A Decameron-esque album, each track paints psychedelic landscapes, framed by electronic and experimental elements, between Race's gothic songwriting and the ever-present post-punk touch to which the two remain faithful.