SPINE

"Spine" (Thorns) is the second full length album by Sicilian band ArcaMiri and it was self-released in 2022 with a confirmed line up featuring Vincenzo Arisco (drums), Peppe Capodieci (bass), Simona Minniti (vocals, synthesizers) and Ivan Ricciardi (piano, synthesizers). It's the work of a mature band that confirms all the good qualities of their previous compositions with its tasty brew of classical influences, avant-garde, jazz and progressive rock in the vein of artists such as Opus Avantra. As you can guess from the art cover that seems to invite you to look under the appearances and search for the roots of things, this work needs an attentive listening to be completely appreciated...

The title of the beautiful opener, "Sumi-e", refers to a Japanese term that indicates one of the art forms in which subjects are painted with black ink in all possible gradations. This way of painting was introduced into Japan by Zen monks and tries to express reality by reducing it to its pure, bare form: you have to learn to capture the essence in order to get to the heart of reality as it is. The piece starts with a dark, almost threatening atmosphere, then veers to jazzy territories and goes on through many changes of mood as the music and lyrics conjure up a thin white canvas against a wall of blossoming cherry trees and inks that can capture and transform images and feelings. The paper can't be a prison for past stories, promises or vows as the hand of the painter tries, digs, drives and let the brush find forgiveness and truth...

"Differenze" (Differences) portrays in music and words a fifteen year old girl called Giada who seems alienated from the world around her. With dull eyes she imagines the warm desert after sunset. She follows the wind and stops the sounds with liquid innocence, alone on the gates of darkness. Nobody can understand her, she's different and her presence is a bit disquieting...

The introspective "Es" (Id) sets a mysterious atmosphere and deals with hidden instincts and desires that are very hard to put under control. In the ego psychology model of the psyche, the id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual desires and emotional impulses present at birth, the source of bodily needs and wants. Here the music and lyrics depict the strain of the protagonist trying to tame her instincts and hide her claws facing the moon, like a lycanthrope who struggles to remain human and gets lost heeding the call of the prey...

The jazzy, ethereal "Polvere" (Dust) tells in notes and hermetic verses of the suggestive call of a strange entity covered by the dust of time coming to life. Now it's waiting for you, naked and empty, it invites you to taste its skeleton and skin, to touch its stem and thorns while a veil of dust dries its tears and blots out the world...

"In viaggio" (Travelling) describes in a poignant poetical way the night before the departure of a migrant who is going to leave his family. At dusk you can see the light of a bonfire on the coast. A gust of wind stirs leaves and embers, then takes up ancient voices running after new moons. At dawn a ship set sails leaving behind women, children, homes and roots...

The spectral "D'autunno" (In Autumn) is a dark, Gothic piece evoking the voice of a ghost. A woman dies and steals the light from the sun. She tells she's seen everything and now she knows what's hidden behind the dark and what the infinite conceals but she's dying anyhow. She says she's understood everything but the smell of freshly cut grass in the air recalls her death and a fading Autumn time...

The title of the last track, the complex "Meccano", refers to a line of toys created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. It's a model construction system that enables the building of working models and mechanical devices. Here the Meccano is used as a metaphor to evoke childhood dreams and innocent memories in a game of lights and shadows. Happy children play noisily together, oblivious of the world but as you grow up the innocence melts and now you look at them with a strong sense of envy and nostalgia...

On the whole, an excellent work full of poetry and rich in nuances.