London musician Carmelo Alfano joins forces with Sundae Club for the atmospheric new single ‘Is This You?’, bringing together decades of musical experience, vintage influences and a distinctly independent approach to songwriting and production.
Released on 1st of September 2026, ‘Is This You?’ marks the latest release from Alfano and Sundae Club, with the collaboration connecting Carmelo’s long-running career as a musician with the creative world of Colin Crawford and George Shilling.
For Alfano, music has been a lifelong journey that began at home. His father, an enthusiastic opera singer and devoted opera fan, introduced him to the world of classical music from an early age. What started with listening to opera in the family home eventually developed into a serious interest in performance, leading Alfano to study voice in Modena, Italy, for two years with the teacher of legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti.
His career has since taken him across different areas of the entertainment industry, including music, acting and television sound engineering. He also became an early experimenter in music technology, streaming a live London gig via dial-up internet more than two decades ago – an event that attracted the attention of Sky News.
The Story Behind Sundae Club
The story behind Sundae Club is equally unconventional.
Colin Crawford was previously the keyboard player in Carmelo Alfano’s band Alfano, which supported James Blunt and performed at some of London’s best-known music venues. Crawford later met producer George Shilling at an Elvis-themed fancy-dress party, where the two discovered a shared passion for music and vintage recording equipment.
Their subsequent Sunday afternoon studio sessions developed into Sundae Club. Influenced by the likes of Lemon Jelly and fascinated by vintage instruments, the pair created an electronic-leaning body of work under the pseudonyms Hamstall Ridware and Dr. C.D. Mille.
The project soon moved beyond the home studio. Sundae Club’s music was used by GMTV, while the duo secured a publishing deal with Taste Music. Their debut album Technostalgia featured ‘Angels In The Sky’, with vocals from Sam Holmes.
They also co-wrote a track recorded by French Fame Academy winner Nolwenn Leroy for her second album Histoires Naturelles, as well as creating music for ITV UEFA Champions League Weekly.
That history gives ‘Is This You?’ a deeper context: this is a collaboration built from an existing musical connection that stretches back years, rather than a meeting assembled purely for a single release.
A Career Built on Persistence
Alfano’s own career has produced plenty of unexpected stories.
In 1993, he sent a demo to Tom Jones, believing one of the songs would suit the legendary singer. Ten years later, he was contacted by someone from the music industry who remembered the tape. A song from the original demo had apparently been considered for Jones, but the cassette cover containing Alfano’s contact details had been lost.
It was a missed opportunity that could easily have marked the end of the story. Instead, it became another chapter in a career defined by persistence.
That same attitude continues with ‘Is This You?’. Rather than attempting to fit neatly into one musical category, Alfano and Sundae Club draw on their accumulated experience to create something that sits comfortably between indie, alternative and electronic music.
With decades of history behind the artists involved, ‘Is This You?’ is not simply a new collaboration – it is another chapter in a musical story that has already travelled from opera and London’s live circuit to early internet streaming, vintage recording technology and an ever-changing independent music scene.
Listen to ‘Is This You?’ by Carmelo Alfano feat. Sundae Club on Spotify.
