Sheen
Sheen (RDM Records) is the electronic moniker of Lorenzo Marranini. Focusing on INDUSTRIAL/ MINIMALIST SOUNDSCAPES, his debut album Absence is a masterclass in sound research, blending visceral audio-textual interventions with the complex manipulation of sonic masses.
RDM Records
Rooted in an existential-philosophic framework, the work draws its conceptual title from Daniele’s poem, Assenza (o soglia del mio dolore). Each composition within the album serves as a numbered movement, mapping specific moments of human consciousness into a structured sonic reality.
The Debut Album: Absence
Released in 2015, Absence is a collaborative masterclass conceived by Marranini and developed in close participation with Romina Daniele. The project is rooted in an existential-philosophic framework, drawing its conceptual title from Daniele’s poignant poem, Assenza (o soglia del mio dolore).
Key Features of the Work:
Sonic Architecture: Built upon "indifferentiated masses" and the fusion of disparate genres, the album is the result of intense and laborious research into the "moods of musical experience."
Conceptual Structure: Each composition is a numbered movement corresponding to specific moments of human consciousness and philosophical inquiry.
Vocal Interventions: The deep electronic environments are woven together with textual and vocal contributions, translating abstract thought into a visceral, sonic reality.
Absence stands as a definitive document of the Sheen project—a rigorous mapping of internal states through the lens of modern electronic experimentation.
Absence is available now. Explore the full conceptual journey, listen to high-quality previews, and purchase the album in digital or physical formats directly from our official catalog.
SHEEN (RDM RECORDS) is the avant-garde electronic project of LORENZO MARRANINI, whose debut album Absence represents a profound exploration between SOUND RESEARCH and philosophy. Developed in collaboration with ROMINA DANIELE, the project stands as a model in the manipulation of UNDIFFERENTIATED SOUND MASSES and the fusion of disparate genres. Through an intense and painstaking research process, Marranini constructs deep and contrasting electronic environments that translate the dynamics of the musical experience into visceral AUDIO-TEXTUAL INTERVENTIONS.
2026 Feature Review: NonSoloProgRock
Italian avant-garde authority NONSOLO PROGROCK analyzes SHEEN: ABSENCE, celebrating RDM Records' official US market deployment campaign.
"The marriage between vocal experimentation and avant-garde sound research finds a new, intriguing expression between electronics and philosophy, where the two protagonists turn deconstruction and expressive depth into their trademark... atmospheres close to the heart of the most twilight-hued Thom Yorke." — Massimo Salari
On Romina Daniele: "A performance where the voice transcends the boundaries of traditional singing... using the vocal fabric to scrape, cradle, and weave complex emotional textures."
On Lorenzo Marranini: "Rarefied soundscapes, minimalist drones, and electroacoustic music elements that engage in a constant, and often edgy, dialogue."
🖋️ GIOVANNI ROSSI (Industrial [r]Evolution)
"The gamble taken by Sheen—to completely detach the listener from their own dimension, kidnapping them into their "elsewhere"—is a resounding victory for the duo.
The creative brainchild of Romina Daniele and Lorenzo Marranini feeds on a complex and profound variety of sonic impulses, inlaid with the metrics of the Neapolitan vocalist and embellished by the multi-instrumentalist’s arrangements.
The electronic gusts with which Marranini envelops the opening tracks shift unexpectedly into the poignant guitar of "Absence VI," before transcending into the ambient evolutions of the album's finale. At the same time, Romina Daniele expresses her well-known and appreciated talent through vocal lines that range from spoken-word recitativo—where her poems provide the textual substrate—to experimental vocalizations where her voice unfolds its full range of color.
What does it mean to be authentic? Romina asks at the beginning of the album. It is precisely around this question that the work develops, entering the intimate inner worlds of the two artists through nine tracks that describe a difficult, uncomfortable journey in search of what remains of the world's authenticity. And these two musicians bring plenty of authenticity to the table, not hesitating to strip themselves bare artistically. They cast aside any craving for pure virtuoso display in favor of infusing soul and substance into a work fueled by genuine passion.
Absence is an album that defies schematic classification because it is genetically constructed from the intersection of the visionary talents of two musicians who make sound inquiry and experimentation their creative breath. The gamble mentioned at the beginning is exactly this: to tear down every preconception and label to challenge the listener on unknown ground—a terrain so rich with surprises and so stimulating that it demands multiple listens to fully savor the details of this varied and sublime fresco." — Giovanni Rossi, Industrial [r]Evolution
🖋️ ROBERTO ALESSANDRO FILIPPOZZI (Darkroom Magazine)
"It is a work that utterly captivates with its incomparable dark emphasis and enviable sonic and conceptual cohesion.
The Sheen project took life in Milan from a shared vision between Lorenzo Marranini (a multi-instrumentalist active in various bands across different genres) and Romina Daniele (an award-winning vocal experimenter and researcher, already highly regarded in these pages), after Marranini had laid the groundwork as far back as 2005. Collaborating also in the management of their label, RDM Records (established in 2010), the two artists shaped and recorded the nine tracks—all titled "Absence" followed by their respective Roman numerals—that comprise this debut between 2009 and 2015.
The work stems from a vital premise: Romina’s poem "Assenza (o soglia del mio dolore)" [Absence (or Threshold of my Pain)], a piece of crucial importance in her body of work because: "...Absence is the lack of authenticity in the world, in the face of which a more personal search becomes urgent and necessary."
This is an honorable manifesto that fully reflects the artistic journey of both Marranini and Daniele. In this remarkable debut, they define a truly dark path, magnificently guided by the words of the aforementioned poem.
The minimal/noir electronics and the darkwave impulses of Lorenzo’s guitar generate leaden, somber landscapes. Against this backdrop, the extraordinary versatility of a gifted and daring singer like Romina shines, unleashing both spoken-word passages and high-caliber vocalizations with surprising variations and unrivaled showmanship. The album moves through: doom-like shifts and austere piano tolls, seductive darkwave flourishes and poignant, evanescent melodies, dark rhythmic pulses and magnetic, nocturnal cadences, industrial-ambient walls of sound and menacing tensions mixed with unease.
It is a work that utterly captivates with its incomparable dark emphasis and enviable sonic and conceptual cohesion—a direct expression of the "authenticity" mentioned above, which for researchers and experimenters of Lorenzo and Romina's sensitivity is simply an indispensable prerogative. An absolute must-listen." — Roberto Alessandro Filippozzi, Darkroom Magazine
🖋️ MASSIMO SALARI (Rock Impressions)
"This is a record that transcends every logical parameter of musical structure, at least as it is generally understood. It is best listened to in the dark... if you dare!
Sheen is the project born from the union of two artists: vocalist Romina Daniele and multi-instrumentalist (bass and guitar) Lorenzo Marranini. Marranini comes from a background in Rock and Folk/Blues, while Romina Daniele is already well-known as a vocalist and experimenter of the human sound—notably, she is a winner of the Demetrio Stratos International Prize, to name just one of her accolades. Together, they founded RDM Records in 2010.
This partnership has brought forth their debut album, Absence, consisting of nine tracks all sharing the same title, distinguished only by an increasing number. Absence is a forward-looking work, sung in English (with the exception of Absence 8), that refuses to be confined by the standard "song formula," which is light-years away from the music found here. The title is taken from Romina’s poem "Absence," published in 2011 in the collection Poesie 1995–2005 (RDM). According to their biography, it represents the lack of authenticity in the world, in the face of which a more personal search becomes both urgent and necessary.
Electronics play a vital role in the success of the ensemble—at times a dark shadow chasing the sound, at others a sonic carpet that highlights Daniele's voice. High notes, spoken-word passages, verses, and theatrical interpretations alternate with vocalizations that are, at times, polyphonic. Absence 2 is drawn from the poemL’Occhio Che Ascolta (The Listening Eye) and is built upon an obsessive rhythm, echoing a sound one might find in the discography of Paolo Catena. Absence 3 is rhythmic yet remains dark, taken from the poem Assenza (O Soglia Del Mio Dolore). It is beautifully interpreted by both the instrumentation and the vocals. Listening to it feels like a free-fall into darkness without a handhold; it feels bottomless. Remarkable. I only "awaken" when the Pink Floyd-esque guitar flourishes intervene—worthy companions to a journey that is both psychedelic and poetic. Absence 4 is heavy and radiates pain—a slow agony that leads directly into the next phase, Absence 5. more pain, more darkness. Absence 6 arrives as a spectral, heavy anthem bordering on Doom, featuring excellent guitar work. Absence 7 plays with vocal overdubbing, while Absence 8 is nothing short of ghostly (Antonius Rex, if you’re reading this, contact them!). The closing track, Absence 9, is a suite lasting nearly nineteen minutes—a long, frightening journey, suspended in mid-air and hanging in the void.
This is a record that transcends every logical parameter of musical structure, at least as it is generally understood. It is best listened to in the dark... if you dare! — Massimo Salari, Rock Impressions
