Luigi Milanese is an Italian guitarist, who just released a new album Closer to Heaven via Black Widow records in Italy. For this album, we did something I have never done before – I reviewed it track by track while discussing it on Facebook Messenger with Luigi himself.

The opening track, Never I Did, is a very melodic, almost acoustic track, with vocals by Claudia Sanguineti. Accompanied by acoustic and electric guitar, piano (Luca Lamari) and cello (Marila Zingarelli), she sings in an enchanting, almost melancholic voice. As I wrote during our chat session ‘this could play all evening – lights low, bottle of wine, brilliant.

This is followed by Riot House, for which Luigi told me to ‘Turn up the volume!’. A blues rock track, which reminds somewhat of ZZ Top‘s ‘Legs‘, played by the power trio of guitar, bass and drums, and fully instrumental. A big contrast to the first track, but no worse for it. The rumbling bass of Bob Callero, the pounding drums of Frederico Lagomarsino and the speedy guitar work of Luigi combine really well.

On All the Thing I Never Said, we’re back to cello, piano and acoustic guitar, this time with Claudio only singing note without lyrics, before leaving the stage for the flute of John Hackett, who starts in a South American fashion but moves on to other things quickly. Andriano Mondini adds a nice lower end with the oboe as well.The dreamy mid section almost lulls the listener into a trance when suddenly electric guitar riffs change the mood, a nice twist into the second half of the song – with great bass work once again. [acfw id=2]

Acoustic guitar in a slightly higher tempo, in a slightly rock ballad like way opens As a Chill in the Golden Night, on which Claudia Sanguineti once again takes care of the vocals. With a slightly bluesy edge to the guitar, this could have been inspired by the acoustic tracks from the end of the 60s (think Janice Joplin transferred to 2016).

Aurora has a similar structure as All the Things I never Said, starting acoustic and ending electric, with a lead role for John Hackett’s flute once again, but it has a different sound to it. The cello has a bigger role on this one than on All the things I never Said, and the transfer to electric is less abrupt – it actually comes in quite nicely, by means of an electric piano (Luca Lamari again) and some long, slighlty distorted long guitar chords. This combination gives the track a nice jazz rock feel. I think I can understand why this is Luigi’s own favourite track on the album.

Acoustic rules is a short track that featurs as a show case for Luigi’s acoustic guitar playing abilities. Starting with a melodic part, it moves on to powerful strumming, accompanied near the end by a little bit of drums (played with bare hands by Frederico Lagomarsino).

Visions from the Well Part I starts with what sounds like the end of a symphony played by an orchestra, followed by applause of an audience, and moving on to acoustic guitar and cello. With an e-bow added to Luigi’s electric guitar this track is quite a surprise after what came before, a haunting mix of acoustic guitar and cello, painting a vision of a dream.

Internal Dynamics is a wonderful fusion track, mixing classical elements with a lead role for John Hackett’s flute and Luigi’s electric and acoustic guitar – exchanging melodies. Each instrument contributes it’s own part here though, with drums and bass being unmissable.

Visions from the Well Part 2 is proof that Luigi Milanese studied music. Cello, guitar, piano and bass all play their own melodies, but it all fits together like magic, pity it only lasts for 95 seconds.

Epilogue, which closes the album, once again features acoustic guitar, accompanied by flute and keys to lay down how Luigi feels about music. Less than one and a half minute long, but a fitting end.

This is an album that is impossible to pigeon hole – it’s not rock, not jazz, not fusion, not psychedelic, but it has elements of all. If you are looking for something that is somewhat unpredictable, without becoming overly experimental – or just a nice piece of music crafted with love, this one is definitel recommended.

When I interviewed Kristoffer Gildenlöw last year, he told me that his debut album Rust was inspired by a dark period in his life. A period that he needed to come to terms with. His next album, the one I’m listening to for the umpteenth now, would be less dark he expected. To some extend he was right, but The Rain is far from party music. The concept album tells the story of a man fighting his oncoming dementia, giving in only shortly before dying. A theme that is all to common, in a world where we are still dealing with Alzheimer. From that perspective, giving some tracks of the album their first airplay during Rock against Dementia on March 19th of this year was a logical thing to do.

After the sounds of rain, the first violin notes of After the Rain Part II (Part I is on the 200 copies limited edition bonus EP) make clear that this album is full of emotion and melancholy. Kristoffer’s voice carries the melancholy, which is joined by Paul Coenradie’s equally emotional guitar to set the stage for the rest of the album.

On Holding On Pt. I  Kristoffers voice is joined by that of violinist Anne Bakker, resulting in a  duet full of questions and despair. The effect of the vocals, and the use of vocals as another instrument becomes even stronger on Seeking The Sun  Pt. I, where a complete choir (Popkoor Zuilen) joins in with the other two voices to create an intricate and touching layering of melodies. This matches perfectly with the piano and guitar melodies in the instrumental The Sun Pt II.  [acfw id=2]

The short piano (Fredrik Hermansson) and male vocal piece Worthy found me staring out the window into the dark of the night, ‘waking up’ to the slightly faster violin (and cello?) of Holding On Pt II. This leads up to the slow See it All, which starts with dark drums and then a piano to accompany Kristoffer’s low voice, again joined by the choir – putting down the emotions of the dementing man wanting to see it all once more. The cello (Maaike Peters) and violin on Peripheral Memory, accompanied by a low guitar riff and almost haunting drums (by Gazpacho‘s Lars Erik Asp) lead to the soft, slow Breath In, Breath Out. Here, the man gives in, knowing the end is near. The piano and Kristoffer’s voice give me shivers, reminding me of family members who died, no longrer aware of who they themselves and those around them were.

With The Evening, which starts small and ends big, and the acoustic It was me, the album works it’s way into the haunting Drizzle. This song starts with a very low voice (Norman Ebecilio) and the sound of chains and cart wheels and develops into something that is not a blues but certainly has the feel of one. A very dark one that ends in the sound of rain.

The complicated melody of the instrumental second half of She is one of the highlights of the album for me – with a lead role for the alt violin. After this, three short tracks All for You, and The Funeral Pt I and II remain, reflecting the sad ending to a sad story – with the piano and the sound of rain and distant church bells ending the album.

An intricate composition, where lyrics, vocals melodies and instruments work together as an orchestra to convey a story. Production of the album is crystal clear, making all the  layers of the music shine through. Highly recommended, but requires attentive listening.

This review is dedicated to my uncle Josef (Sjef) Hulshout, who is going through the final stages of his earthly life – no longer aware of who he has been and how he has lived.

One of the bands for which I reviewed every album, maybe the only one. That’s The Tea Club. Not because they sent me a complimentary review copy of every album, but also because I like their music. It’s not what I play most, but every time I play it, I hear something that catches me. With their 2015 release Grappling that’s no different. 

The intro of The Magnet immediately grabs my attention, although I have no idea why exactly. It just works. Maybe it’s the combination of guitar and keyboard melodies, or the vocals of the McGowan brothers, Dan and Patrick, no idea really. With Remember Where You Were (a song which’ title reminds me every time of where I was when I heard David Bowie died earlier this year), that only continues. The emotion in the vocals combined with the organ in the background are ear candy. [acfw id=2]

The darker and gloomier Dr. Abraham contains interesting musical moves, as does The Fox In a Hole, which at first hearing seemed to start with a violin. In earlier reviews of The Tea Club albums, I referred to their nice blend of influences, which never becomes a copy of what other bands do. On The Fox in a Hole, it’s the first time I was under the impression I was listening to an old, unreleased Genesis track, with a little bit of Caravan mixed in. Still, it’s a unique thing, not a copy attempt, and still very welcome in the midst of all the 70s clones of the past few years. The same can be said about The White Book, the closign track of the album. No copies, just influences.

Now I skipped quickly Wasp in a Wig, in order to make it into the closing paragraph of this album review. This track is a bit guitar heavier than the rest and giving a bit more foreground to the bass. It starts slow, almost melancholic in the vocal sound, but moves on to a dual vocal, very varied track. It changes and comes back, without loosing coherence, and is very much my favourite on this album. An album that shows that even after 8 years, the quality and musicianship of The Tea Club is still on the same great level. Highly recommended.