They may be a new name to you, they certainly were to me, but Italy’s Acqua Fragile were originally active between 1971 & 1975, and vocalist Bernardo Lanzetti joined PFM for their ‘Chocolate Kings’ and ‘Jet Lag’ albums, leaving in 1977.
The catalyst for this reunion record came when
Bernardo celebrated his career with his Vox 40 concert, and the revived band
consists of Bernardo Lanzetti (vocals, animoog, guitars) Pierro Canavera
(drums/percussion/backing vocals) and Franz Dondi (electric bass), as well as
guest musicians like Jonathon Mover (on opener My Forte) drummer Alessandro Mori
(son of original keyboard player Maurizio Mori) as well as members of the Acqua
Fragile Project, a collaboration put together by Franz Dondi of younger musicians
playing the original music of Acqua Fragile.
You wait a while for some bands to get on with the
‘difficult’ third album, but it’s taken these guys over 40 years!
Joking aside, the musicians have worked hard in Italy,
and Bernardo is a well known name on the progressive scene, having worked with
Mangala Vallis amongst others, and with new blood in the group like
collaborator Alex Giallombardo, who provides guitars, vocals and keyboards this
blends the best of traditional Acqua Fragile with new sounds and contemporary
production values.
This blending of old and new is probably exemplified
by the track Wear Your Car Proudly, which was a track the band used to perform
in the 70’s, which had never been recorded. The music was intact, with some
driving guitar and bass, and wonderfully squelchy mid 70’s synth sounds, (it’s
also reminiscent of the neo-prog sound of the early 80’s) yet the lyrics had
gone, no trace, so Bernardo’s friend came up with some new lyrics, and hey
presto, a wonderfully eclectic song all about motor racing. It’s in the Italian
blood, and the passion comes across in this song.
They have even recorded a track in Italian, Tu Per Lei
(You for Her) with some wonderfully emotive vocals from Bernardo, and a great
electric guitar solo, and it’s true that Italian is a beautiful and emotive
language, I don’t know exactly what’s being sung about, but it sounds
fantastic.
In fact that’s a good word to use to describe this
album, fantastic, I always admire musicians who can write in their second language,
and their English is probably better than mine (I am also probably a little
jealous as I am no linguist, cunning or otherwise) and to flit between their
native tongue and English, is wonderful.
The Drowning meanwhile utilises the lyric skills of Nick
Clabburn, who paints a wonderful picture, for Bernardo to fill with his rich
vocals.
Meanwhile Rain Drops is a poem, by the legendary Pete
Sinfield, that Bernardo loved so much he wanted to adapt, he even explained how
he got permission from the elusive Mr Sinfield to include this on the album (in
the interview elsewhere on Progradar that I did with him) and the orchestral,
almost Oldfieldesque accompaniment works perfectly in drawing the nuances out
of the lyrics, and Sinfield’s imagery is both wonderful and very emotive, again
showing Bernardo’s voice off to the full.
The core band here sound relaxed and enjoying each
others company, whilst the self-explanatory All Rise is a fab rockier number,
showing the band kicking up a storm, in a nod to the live arena, a self
confessed first encore track, utilising the traditional courtroom phrase to
great effect, and providing the energy and power that every good encore needs.
The mood slows a little, with the lovely acoustic How
Come, where Bernardo’s vocals continue to shine, and his personal and moving
lyrics work in this stripped back environment, providing a brief period of
reflection prior to the closing power of the albums title track.
A New Chant see’s Bernardo projecting his voice in an
operatic finale, the music and lyrics working together, a beautiful merging of
sound, topping off what is, to these ears an excellent record.
It’s great to see that bands can reform after a long
period of time, pull together in the studio and rediscover the old magic, this
is Acqua Fragile reborn for the 21st century, and is worth a listen. I
really enjoyed it.
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