ARRIVEDERCI SOGNI

La Dottrina degli Opposti is the brainchild of Genoese composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrea Lotti, former member of La Coscienza di Zeno. The first fruit of this project is entitled Arrivederci sogni (Goodbye dreams) and was released in 2018 on the independent label Fading Records. It was recorded by Andrea Lotti (piano, keyboards, guitar, mandolin, accordion) with the help of Gabriele Guidi Colombi (former member of La Coscienza di Zeno and Il Tempio delle Clessidre) on bass, Paolo Tixi (former member of Il Tempio delle Clessidre) on drums while Francesco Ciapica (current member of Il Tempio delle Clessidre) took charge of the vocal parts. Along with them there's the orchestra of the conservatory Giorgio Federico Ghedini from Cuneo that provided a classical touch to the arrangements in tradition of Italian symphonic prog. The music draws on seventies influences with an updated sound and in my opinion fans of bands such as Premiata Forneria Marconi will surely enjoy this album, a conceptual work dealing with the transition from adolescence to adulthood, enchantment and disenchantment, dreams and reality...

The delicate, short opener 'Dove Dio dipinge le nuvole' (Where God paints the clouds) is a beautiful instrumental track that sets the atmosphere perfectly blending piano and synthesizers with the sound of the orchestra. It leads to the complex 'Nero, grigio e tu' (Black, grey and you) that describes in music and words a new dawn and the beginning of another dull working day. Night dreams get drown and melt away in a cup of coffee while in the streets people start to move following their usual routine like faceless, tearless shadows. You try to act like them but you can't, you miss the freedom of your childhood and set your fantasy free, now the desire to take off and fly away in the sky is overwhelming... In my opinion, here some musical passages have been deliberately composed to pay a tribute to PFM and other sources of inspiration like Lucio Battisti but the piece is excellent despite a faint sense of déjà vu.

'Equilibrio' (Balance) is an ethereal, short interlude with the orchestra in the forefront and the following 'Sulla via del ritorno' (On the way back) is another good instrumental piece with strong PFM influences. Then it's the turn of 'La riconquista della posizione eretta' (The reconquest of the upright position) that depicts in music and words strange soaring forms, new identities floating in the air, between sky and earth, light bodies flying among the clouds, running one after each other trying to feed their soul with colours and hopes...

'Quiete' (Stillness) is another short instrumental interlude that introduces the last track, the long, articulate 'Fra le dita' (Between the fingers) that tells of a meeting in a caf' between a young man and a woman. The young man is a shy student, a dreamer that can't find the right words to express his feelings... Well, the art cover by Eloisa Giacosa in some way depicts this meeting better than my words and fits the music very well giving an idea of void and melancholy in a world where too often dreams clash against reality.

All in all, Ithink that this is a very good album and that it is really worth listening to.