L'ISOLA DI NIENTE

Still echoing the successful receptivity of the English-speaking market to "Photos Of Ghosts", the English-language adaptation of "Per Un Amico", Premiata Forneria Marconi releases in their mother tongue "L'Isola Di Niente", their fourth album. With an elaborated and muscular production, the band is involved in the development of more complex structures compared to their previous works, which, although they maintain the influences of the main referents of the genre, once again add ingredients of their own.

From the experimental piece that gives its name to the album "L'Isola Di Niente", and its prolonged instrumental interlude featuring Franco Mussida's screeching guitar and Franco Premoli's keyboards, and preceded by a disturbing choral arrangement courtesy of the Accademia Paolina Da Milano, the Italians show a robustness in their musical proposal that is reinforced with the very progressive "La Luna Nuova" and all the textures that Premoli extracts from his keyboards, headed by the stellar moog.

Without leaving aside its Mediterranean roots with the beautiful "Dolcissima Maria" and its melodious and rhythmic acoustic tempos, and since the incorporation of Jan Patrick Djivas on bass replacing Giorgio Piazza, PFM also delves into deep jazzy atmospheres as with the watery "Is My Face On Straight", the English-sung piece on the album, but especially with "Via Lumiere", where Djivas' bass and Franz Di Cioccio's dynamic drumming carry most of the disparate instrumentation until the festive and luminous closing with the full band.

"L'Isola Di Niente" ratified PFM as the Italian progressive band with the greatest repercussion and international success and, with the help of the record label of their referents E,L&P, they spread their talent beyond the peninsular borders.

Very good.

4 stars