Pensiero
Nomade is mainly the brainchild of Salvo Lazzara, a guitarist and
composer from Pisa (although now based in Rome), former member of Germinale.
The project took form in 2006 and the year after a debut album
entitled Per questi e altri naufragi was
released. This first work was followed by Tempi migliori
(2009), Materia e Memoria (2011) and Imperfetta solitudine
(2013), all blending in different doses - often with a strong minimalist
approach - relaxing New Age atmospheres, ambient, jazz, a pinch of
electronica and dreamy, ethereal guitar passages that every now and
again could recall artists such as Riccardo Zappa or William
Ackerman.
Da
nessun luogo, the fifth Pensiero Nomade's studio album, was
released in 2015 on the independent label Filibusta Records and
features a richer sound and, for the first time, lyrics and vocal
parts. For this work Salvo Lazzara gathered around him an excellent
bunch of musicians who helped him to weave an intricate musical
fabric full of nuances and delicate musical colours: in fact, along
with Salvo Lazzara (9 strings touch guitar, electric guitar, synth
guitar, bass, arrangements and programming) the line up features
precious collaborators such as Fabio Anile (piano, synth,
electronics), Michela Botti (vocals), Davide Guidoni (drums,
percussions, gongs - from Taproban, Nuova Era, Daal), Andrea Pavoni
(piano, synth, bass, guitar, vocals, arrangements and programming -
from Greenwall and Inner Prospekt), Luca Pietropaoli (trumpet,
electronics) and another former Germinale member, Alessandro Toniolo
(flute, midi horns). According to an interview with Salvo Lazzara,
this work is a concept album that tells in music and words of
a deep sense of loss, a crises that you can overcome only by looking
for the true sense of life in the reality that surrounds you...
The
instrumental opener "Dove comincia il giorno" (Where the
day begins) sets the atmosphere by taking you on an ethereal trip, at
dawn... A slow train is breaking through the mist and you can smell
exotic flavours and let your mind fly... The following "A
tensione costante" (At constant tension) is another instrumental
track. Here the rhythm slackens, the mood becomes darker, you can
feel that something is going to happen...
On
"Più lontano, più forte" (Farther, harder) we can hear
for the first time the voice of Michela Botti as the music and lyrics evoke a sudden change
of direction in the curve of time. Now everything flows and floats
around you, old memories come back as your heart is beating harder
than ever... Then "Niente, finalmente" (Nothing, finally)
brings a sense of unreal peace. You can perceive a step of dance not far from
you, a different rhythm makes you forget for a while painful regrets
and dark memories while the promise of oblivion begins to shine
through the clouds of a rainy day...
The
melancholic "La coda dell'occhio" (The sidelong glance)
breaks the illusion by evoking another regret while the shadows of
other people look like foam of lost waves, distant echoes of broken
dreams... Then it's the time of the long title track, "Da nessun luogo" (From
nowhere), that begins softly and takes you on the merciless rhythm of Time
through infinite labyrinths and games of mirrors. Here the music and
lyrics tell of days spent without hope and without hurry, days lost
in the daily grind between private pains and ephemeral joys, days
you dropped out like the pearls of a broken necklace, shaped by
the warm hands of new desires and by the cold embraces of loneliness
and emptiness... A long solitary journey lightened every now and
again by an imagined love...
The
poetical "Il verso che non trovo" (The verse I can't find)
marks a new start taking you on the border of a new dawn. You realize
that a whole world is slowly moving around you, on the horizon you
can see the landmarks of a city that's still asleep and that soon
will wake up like an enormous octopus trying to draw you with its
tentacles towards a new challenge... Male and female vocals here
conjure up almost a sense of desperate hysteria as you look for
something that you can't grasp...
The
jazzy, surreal instrumental "L'apparente allegria" (The
apparent cheerfulness) leads to the beautiful closer "Cercalo in
fondo agli occhi" (Look for it straight in the eye) where the
soaring vocals of Michela Botti urge you to catch the day... There's
still time for dreaming, do not sleep! "Look
back and look at me / I'm nothing but a hidden shadow / But I can
still talk to you / Of what I know / Of what you can't still
understand...".
On
the whole, I think that this is a very good album, full of nuances
and poetical lyrics. It probably needs more spins to be fully
appreciated but at last I'm sure you'll be rewarded.
You
can listen to complete album HERE
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