Bar Italia unveil their lively, attitude-filled new record Some Like It Hot

When Bar Italia first appeared, they were still learning who they were. The London trio came together just before the world went quiet during COVID, using the lockdown period to release music at a remarkable pace. They dropped two early albums and an EP through Dean Blunt’s attention-grabbing World Music label, before moving to Matador in 2023 for two more full-length projects, Tracey Denim and The Twits. Through all of this, they were still growing. They began as a live act with nowhere to perform for two years, a rising name suddenly dealing with an unfamiliar press scene, and as three friends simply figuring out what it meant to be a band.

People often described their quiet online presence and face-covered visuals as “mysterious” or “elusive,” but really, it was just inexperience. “We didn’t know how it worked being a band and being a slightly public entity. We didn’t realise the expectations or the etiquette within that,” explains vocalist and guitarist Sam Fenton. “So, within the answer of ‘we never intended to be mysterious’ was that we also never expected people to be so curious about us being that way.”

Two years later, after a whirlwind period that took the group—completed by Nina Cristante on vocals and Jezmi Tarik Fehmi on vocals and guitar—from obscurity to international stages, Bar Italia are now ready to step into the spotlight. Their third album, Some Like It Hot, arrives this month as a turning point: bold, confident, and full of spirit. It’s a record that shows a band aware of their place in the world, one whose name now carries weight.

Gone is any sense of hesitation or restraint. This album demands attention and earns it. As the final months of 2025 unfold, it feels like a late contender for one of the best releases of the year. “On the new album, you can feel like we’ve been subjected to loads of gigging and touring the world,” says Cristante. “It feels like you know that people are listening.”

There’s a playful confidence running through Some Like It Hot that’s rare in today’s guitar scene. It’s not the brash swagger of Oasis, but something more seductive and self-assured. The name may reference the 1959 film with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, and Jack Lemmon about a band on the road, yet the real connection lies in their shared energy and charm.

“[The title] seemed a bit cheeky and a bit cocky, and that was what was attractive,” Cristante says. Musically, the band glide between moods, from the sharp-edged drive of Fundraiser to the dreamy groove of Marble Arch, the melancholic sway of Bad Reputation, and the explosive rush of Cowbella—and that’s just the beginning. The record is bursting with creativity, the kind that only happens when a band truly hits its stride.

Their chemistry as a trio is what ties it all together. “You have to find where the triangle is moving; you can’t bring your own sense of where something has to go,” says Fenton about their writing process. “And as soon as you lean into that and allow it to happen, the song takes a transcendent shape, much more than it would have been on your own, trying to follow one path.”

With each of them taking turns on vocals, there’s a constant tension and release that makes their songs feel alive. Their interplay highlights their differences while revealing how their perspectives fit together. The push and pull between voices gives their music depth, as heard on Fundraiser. “When I don’t have your love, it’s a lonely war,” Fenton sings before Cristante cuts in: “I don’t think I’ve actually met you…”

“There’s something about our match-up that just really appeals to me – it just feels meant to be” – Sam Fenton

“We’re not conflict-averse as a band,” Fehmi laughs. “But we don’t write the lyrics together,” Cristante adds. “And we often don’t ask what the others are talking about. So I don’t know to this day what Sam or Jezmi are writing about in Fundraiser, and they don’t know who or what I’m writing about.” Does that not make them curious? “Honestly, I tried, but they just don’t tell me,” she admits. “So then it’s like, well, no one is asking me anything, so fine, I won’t ask them…” “We’re nothing if not classic men,” Fehmi jokes.

Even if they keep their lyrical meanings private, all three share a love for high drama and cinematic storytelling. Their songs play out like short films, filled with emotion and mystery. “A river dies in a flood of ocean / I had a similar time in your devotion,” begins I Make My Own Dust; while Fehmi sings, “I cried and I ran til the end of the earth / It’s the least that I could do / To get away from you,” over the hazy guitars of The Lady Vanishes. “I find playing a character can be a way of being almost more truthful than I would dare to be if I was speaking directly from my point of view,” Fenton reflects. “Sometimes you need to process that drama to get in touch with yourself on a deeper level.”

Cristante is quick to point out that their boy-girl-boy setup shouldn’t automatically shape how listeners interpret the songs. “I was doing a mental count, and eight or nine songs for me are not about romantic relationships. They’re about anecdotes or reflections,” she says. “I resist that a little bit because you hear a female voice with guys and you think straight away of a relationship. Obviously, there’s loads of love as well, and it’s so important, but it’s interesting with lyrics and vocal lines how something can become relatable and romantic just by the environment they create, even if the words are very vague.”

There’s certainly a sense of romance in Bar Italia, but not the conventional kind. It lives instead in the way they function together as a true band—three artists pushing each other, learning from one another, and creating something larger than any of them could alone. Their early “mystery” may have been an accident, but they still believe in leaving a little room for imagination.

“People generally just do too much these days,” Fehmi says. “You see someone with 200 followers doing an Ask Me Anything, or someone on a support tour who’ll then make their own tour flyer as if they’re not the support. Like, fuck off! Know your place! I’m not being a dick, but it’s just a bit creepy that everyone feels the need to pretend.”

“We’re not judging that culture, we’re judging the expectation that everyone should be like that,” adds Fenton. “We’ve now done some social media stuff that just felt completely inappropriate to who we are as people, in my opinion. We don’t need to do a thing, sitting around a table pretending we’re on a first date, answering communal questions. I don’t feel represented truthfully by that stuff; it shuts me down as a human being.” “It’s like when you put a little coat on a dog or something,” Cristante laughs, “and the dog gets really shy.”

You won’t see Bar Italia chasing viral trends anytime soon. But if you want a band to truly believe in—one that has grown beyond its hype to deliver on its potential—this is it.

“There was a fateful feeling for me when we started working together. We’d already felt like that as friends, but working together took it to a different level,” says Fenton, smiling. “Even when we weren’t getting on, I almost felt like I was watching a film; I was enjoying the bits when we weren’t getting on because there was character to it. There’s something about our match-up that just really appeals to me, and I think we all feel that. There’s something that just feels meant to be.”

Bar Italia’s Some Like It Hot is out on October 17 via Matador Records.