Dublin based, Italian born artist Donatella Camedda (vocals/guitar) comes to us as a fully formed artist. Adopting the name Aryel Moon she is now ready to release her second single ‘Eulogy’. Drawing heavily on the flannel-soaked rock coming out of Seattle in the 90’s. Aryel Moon cite Hole, L7 and Babes In Toyland as influences alongside contemporary sounds from St Vincent and PJ Harvey to help shape their sound. ‘Eulogy’ draws on the influences, passes them through the Aryel Moon prism and projects something entirely unique. Coming in at 3 minutes, the track doesn’t waste a second in making it’s point. Lyrically, Donatella delves into her past to help vanquish demons that circle from previous trauma of manipulation and abuse. Through this primal scream of emotion, she is able to find liberation and rebirth.
When it comes to writing this is done in isolation by Donatella, preferring intimate moments alone to craft the song and hone melodies and lyrics before she brings it to the band. ‘Eulogy’ was one of the first songs Donatella penned for the project, and was completed before the band took the form we know today. To help bring the song to life Donatella turned to Stefano Vita (bass), with guitars and bass split between the two. Then, to give the song its heartbeat drums were handled by Nicolas Segio Raiman who recorded remotely in Argentina. For Donatella the writing process isn’t complete until the band adds depth and energy to the song, a punctuation mark that helps drive home the intent and underpin the emotion. The live band is now completed by Luca Masi (electric guitar) and Nando Alonso (drums).
From the outset ‘Eulogy’ is heavy with emotion, there are definite swathes of a young Courtney Love in the vocal delivery and melodic choice. A short, restrained intro of guitar and vocals that beg the question ‘Is this the end?’ and allude to being trapped without an end in sight. Nicolas’s drums join with a heavy tom groove that pushes the song forward. The band eschew a standard verse/chorus verse approach here opting instead to let the song build into crescendo after crescendo, each movement feels like a new wave hitting and crashing against the rocks. ‘Eulogy’ is a harrowing cry for freedom while being trapped in a seemingly unending oppressive situation. Donatella says; ‘Eulogy is a song about the suffocating effects of domestic abuse, manipulation, and gaslighting. Having your identity consumed to the point where you no longer recognise yourself, as if looking into empty mirrors.’ Dark as it is the song is subtly laced in hope, ending the cycle of abuse and in this finding rebirth.
‘Eulogy’ was recorded in November 2024 by Donatella and Stefano in the producer’s home studio in Dublin. The intimate setting allowed for a focused and collaborative process, with the two working closely to shape the overall vibe and sonic identity of the track. The artwork for ‘Eulogy’ is a deeply personal and symbolic image for Donatella, taken on a beach on a grey, overcast day, with muted tones and a dominant presence of black to evoke the feeling of grief, mourning, and emotional entrapment. The beach, even though it’s not fully visible, plays a silent role in grounding the image in a raw, natural space — reflecting the emotional bareness and rebirth that ‘Eulogy’ represents.
Aryel Moon channels the grit and emotion of '90s alt-rock through a modern lens, blending grunge, punk energy, and poetic depth. With a velvety voice that soars and scars, this is a strong debut from the band, who will no doubt take their place amongst the burgeoning grunge scene currently quietly taking hold in Ireland.
Catch Aryel Moon live:
7th June, Balbriggan Pride Festival
25th July, McDowell’s, Dublin
Ariel, Babes in Toyland
An obvious reference. This great song showed me the direction I wanted to take when I first started playing the guitar and writing songs. The slow rhythm, the opening riff, the crunchy yet aerial powerful vocals and the hypnotizing lyrics… rawness and elegance I could not resist. I was mesmerised by the full Nemesister album. Ariel was the first song I performed live in 1997 with my platinum hair and a far too loose guitar. This song, among other sources, inspired the artistic name I adopted for my music identity a few years later.
Rebel Girl, Bikini Kill
Rebel Girl is a classic riotgrrl anthem, Bikini Kill quickly became a model for me of how punk, femininity and pure freedom could go hand in hand. The energy and positive message of this song keeps inspiring me to date. I wanted to play in a female band, I wanted to sing unapologetically, make my guitar louder than I could. There is a lot of this in my early music. When I finally managed to see Bikini Kill live in 2024 (I know, a long wait), I was also working on new songs and realised that their imprint is still inside here.
Rid of me, PJ Harvey
First listened in a cassette, this song was a total blast and immediately placed PJ Harvey among one of my greatest music inspirations. The apparent simplicity of the song, the authenticity of the low-fi yet well-crafted sound, and the blasting energy left me with a desire to do something similar in music. PJ Harvey has been an inspiration since day one and her evolution keeps inspiring me, there are too many songs I would like to include but this one left an indelible mark in my music roots.
Violet, Hole
Opening song of Live through this, I remember listening to Violet for the first time and thinking ‘this is perfection’. The sound, the voice and the lyrics carved a hole in my brain and heavily influenced how I wanted to write songs. Hole was a huge model of female grunge for me in an era where the scene was dominated by male bands. The chord progression of this song felt so familiar to me, I felt I belonged to this song, and to the entire album. That was the way I sang at that time, and it made me feel at home.
Little trouble girl, Sonic Youth
Too difficult when it comes to Sonic Youth, I love them entirely. But this song became a nickname for me, as I identified with it and fell in love with Kim Gordon’s vocals and Kim Deal’s backing. This is a song I listen to regularly, and helped a softer part of my creativity come out when writing songs. A bit melancholic with beautiful rocking rhythmics, Little trouble girl was an inspiration for a song I wrote at 16 titled Bambola (doll in Italian).
Broken Man, St. Vincent
I discovered St. Vincent only a few years ago despite she’s been around for a while. Her music has since dropped in my ears and Broken man especially. The dynamic of the song reminds me of PJ’s Rid of me, a dialogue between quiet but haunting parts and explosions of noise that make a perfect balance. Melodically, I like the way the vocals build up on a very repetitive chord progression creating a crescendo of sound and feelings, something I am also using in some of the songs I wrote recently.
Bodies, Smashing Pumpkins
Love is suicide. The chorus of Bodies has marked one important aspect of my lyrics writing, especially in the early stages of my song writing, when my lyrics where quite pessimistic and dark. Well, I kind of improved on that aspect though there’s always some love, some death, some darkness here and there in my songs. Musically, I adore this song. It is often played nowadays when I need some inspiration to allow the rage and the soreness come out.
Desire, Fontaines DC
Riffs again, I love them, and Fontaines do too. Desire is very close to me as I wrote a song in 2023 called Desire path, still unreleased, so the connection was immediate. But it’s not only because of the title, this song brings together poetic lyrics, a sombre tone and hypnotic rhythms, all aspects I also appreciate when writing about introspective themes. I have been listening to Fontaines DC a lot since Dogrel and grew my love for the band over the years. They’ve accompanied my stream of songwriting in the past two years.
Quietly, Guano Apes
This song has such a growing energy, it’s a gritty love song that I loved to cover whit my Italian band Dreamachine around 2010. I listened to Guano Apes a lot in the 2000s when artistically I became Aryel (the addition of Moon is a later development), so there are elements of this band that you will find in my music. Sandra Nasić’s singing style has also influenced the way I sing, taking me towards some more melodic yet scratchy paths.
Dreams, The Cranberries
I hadn’t realised how much The Cranberries influenced my songwriting until I moved to Ireland four years ago. Dream is an evergreen song and when I was writing my debut single Bluebell, I felt very connected with Dreams and the feeling of Irishness it carries within it. Bluebell comes after many years of writing but it’s the song I chose to debut with because it marks a new era in my music career, and this is thanks to Ireland and the sense of belonging I discovered here. The Cranberries are a must!