How Manhattan’s Downtown Set Celebrated Sebastian Faena and Gray Sorrenti’s EP 

If you were enjoying a meal at Cipriani SoHo last night, you might have noticed something outside of the ordinary setting of floating martinis and chicken parmigiana. Just left of the main dining area, stylish models, creative types, and art aficionados ascended the outdoor staircase up to Socialista. Up there, and blind to the ground-floor eye, Sebastian Faena and Gray Sorrenti played host to a celebration for their newly released EP “Save Your Life.” 

In a way, the celebration was like a big downtown family reunion. There was an air of intimacy that floated around as drinks were being served and friends embraced. There wasn’t the excessive sweaty dancing you’d expect to find at a musical release party. Rather, people cozied up with one another on leather couches and engaged in personable conversations.

The EP consists of two soothing, dream-like songs. The first track, entitled “Save Your Life,” was written by Faena after a life-altering event. “I spent a lot of time in Buenos Aires last year because my mom got sick and placed a piano in front of her bed because she wanted me to play her my songs,” Faena tells Vogue. “The week after my mother died, I went into the studio with my best friends and completely bared my soul.” On the track, Sorrenti sings alongside Faena, and, according to the photographer, when she does, he “imagines mother singing.” 

“Artificial Irresistible,” the second song on the track, was written about Guiliana, Monica Vitti’s character in Antonioni’s The Red Desert. The song emulates the film’s theme of someone trying to escape their own body and not being able to bear the space of separation with another. 

Faena performed both songs while an artfully photographic music video was projected in the middle of the room. And all the while, the guests were silent (again, unusual at parties) as his melody engulfed the space.