This will be my first post entirely written in English. Well, I don't want to seem posh or whatever, I simply decided for this option since I got more and more feedback from abroad than from Italy. So, hope you won't mind... anyway, I'm keeping the exotic Italian title just to add a bit of extra fashion to it... joking...
As I was saying a few days ago, internet is totally unuseful for some kind of issues... I did not came through this interesting new release from facebook, or from some hipster webzine, but by word of mouth, which works better than anything in some cases. My pusherman Simon introduced me to the work of Andy Whitaker, formerly The Sun And The Moon, Music For Aborigines and Weaveworld. But I don't want to talk about that too much, because I don't want to prepare your ears to what's coming next.
Well, acoustic stuff is not the usual genre I use to groove to in this period.
But when something special comes in store, a interest comes back in a natural way.
"Things that happened on earth" is not that typical Nick Drake thing you expect from an acoustic, folksy album. This is intriguing. And that's a great point.
Andy's voice lays over some beautifully crafted musical parts, throwing a dark shadow and pushing a strange mood in.
It's not easy to to explain, I'll say you get something similar to that restless feeling you get when you listen to "Forever Changes" by Love.
Yes, there are hints of Scott Walker and Lee Hazlewood as well, but this album ranges from clear, bright ballads to more experimental tracks, and everything shows a wide range of feelings, the same mixed feelings you get when you live a real life.
Some laid back moments, like the beautiful Stars, goes along with darker explorations ("Sermon on the mount", "Primordial soup"), and the album keeps on going without weak points, oscillating from calming moments to humoral passages.
The musical parts on the album are brilliant: soundscapes are elegantly presented, arrangements are finely crafted, guitars, pianos, and a few electronic tricks perfectly fit as an enviroment for Andy's songs and stories.
It's a very "adult", ethereal, mature album, just loosely connected with any genre cliché.
Since I got the promo copy I kept on listening to it as a soothing experience, while the crisis goes on and people keep on going mad outside.
Despite of its gentle sounds, this is not a "quiet" album though: it keeps a dark thread weaving through the tracks, adding a sort of magical, magnetic aspect. Like a shell hiding a bittersweet secret.
Do yourself a favour, get yourself a copy of this beautiful piece of music here: http://www.wanderlandmusic.com/andy-whitaker/
Don't stop the word of mouth.
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