EPPURE

Italian group Fonetica formed in Mestre in 2011 around composer, lyricist and guitarist Fabio Bello who connected with several musicians that shared his passion for the Italian canzone d'autore (singer/songwriter) tradition, and after much live activity on the local scene and some line-up changes, Fabio and his musical collaborators were able to record their first album. Arriving in 2014, it's clear with the debut that the initial `songwriter' ambition that led to the forming of the group has evolved and stretched in other directions, and `Eppure' is a fancy, mature collection of passionate eclectic ballads and energetic rock songs performed in Italian enhanced by a colourful variety of instrumentation and shared male/female vocals.

Looking at some of the highlights, opener `Santa Pace' begins as a gentle sparkling piano and flute reflection before picking up in tempo to properly announce the album with Massimiliano Cadamuro's murmuring bass, Claudio Matinolli's reaching electric guitar strains, the driving drumming of Douglas D'Este and gentle wisps of synths, all backing Fabio's commanding vocal lifted by Silvia Siega's stirring backing voice. Both the gutsy `La Strada del Sole' and darker `La Nuova Guerra' have a nice bluesy strut to them, `La Legge del Branco' nails a killer chorus, and `La Scuola è Morta' is a frequently acoustic tune wrapped in flute, harmonica and accordion with a boisterous chest-beating group vocal.

Cool pop-rocker `Le Parole' adds lightly jazzy flavours with Riccardo Gallucci's electric piano dreaminess and wafting trumpet, and Silvia takes lead on the breezy and pretty popper `Aspettare', one of the most instantly likeable songs in this set, and there's nicely shimmering vibraphone throughout it too! The longest piece on the album at seven minutes, `Pioggia Pioggia', fuses joyful Latin American flavours with sprightly jazz touches through plenty of nimble soloing and spirited singing but includes an unexpected electronic passage in the middle and lengthy instrumental finale that really shows off the musicians, and `Eppure' is a dignified and hopeful ballad to close on performed with tasteful restraint.

Special attention must go to `Pianeta Blu', a very welcome six-minute instrumental break that slinks with seductive bass, whirring synths, careful percussion, floating flute and exhilarating electric guitar soloing with just a trace of bite, all helping the piece to rise with joy and victory in the final moments - more please next time, Fonetica!

Sixty-seven minutes of music here is probably too much, with a few of the pieces holding a similar sound to each-other, and the disc might be light on serious prog and firmer RPI qualities, but the entire album is full of glorious extended soloing and constant instrumental colour that lift even the more straight-forward songs much higher, even if the tune is always the priority. `Eppure' is a showcase of strong and charismatic singing, smart song-writing that constantly takes unpredictable turns and offers endlessly skilled musicianship, everything performed with honesty and conviction, and it makes for a terrific first release from a talented group of musicians that will hopefully issue a follow-up in the near future.

Four stars for simply a very fine Italian rock album - go on, give it a go!