THIS ROOM HAS NO DOORS

'I Once Heard From Lavinia' ... well, we're speaking about singer and songwriter Lavinia Giancaspero from Milan here. It's the chosen moniker for her solo project, okay, she doesn't manage everything on her own, important to know. And so the music actually is deriving from a long distance collaboration of several musicians during the COVID quarantine periods. For example there is Charlie Cawood aboard too, a rather popular and demanded studio musician from the United Kingdom. He already has contributed on uncounted albums, but also continuously releases solo efforts. Expressive and sensitive. Lavinia's debut album comes relatively short but definitely meaningful. The empty room, with no way out ... conceptually dealing with a central theme, the emotional state when you're on the border between love and obsession ... nearly impossible to escape?

Music-wise 'This Room Has No Doors' is consisting of entertaining songs, a well crafted blend of balladesque and rocking portions quasi in a row, sometimes reminding me of the early Bent Knee attitude. Yep, this one appeals, although I'm not really keen on a singer/songwriter approach in general. It has very much to do with the second track Funny I'd say. Initially announced by the melancholic psychedelic Prelude this marks the album's masterpiece. The jazzy imprints due to the electric piano, Mellotron, Lavinia's great singing range, shifting between rough and mellow, fantastic guitar solos, ahhhh, I'm overwhelmed, this is simply perfect. For the sake of variation you'll also detect something rather synth pop infected like Oblivion in the aftermath. Over the course the fine Sinwave evolves to an expressive and dramatic behaviour. A superb debut, very much recommended.