English translation of Athos Enrile interview to Bernardo Lanzetti on Acqua Fragile brand new album

 

Stef Burns and Bernardo Lanzetti

English translation of Athos Enrile interview to Bernardo Lanzetti

 on Acqua Fragile brand new album 

“MOVING FRAGMENTS”

On the occasion of the release of Acqua Fragile's new album, "Moving Fragments", I met with Bernardo Lanzetti, leader and frontman of the band, taking advantage of the privilege of listening to the preview.

In the next few days I will comment on the album but, as always, the author's thought appears fundamental and it is therefore worth proposing the interview in advance of the in-depth analysis.

I underline that the vocalist's leadership appears strengthened in my eyes today, a confirmation of his role as the compositional engine, a concept valid both for a good part of the songs of the first two albums in the ’70, third one in 2017, and for current affairs.

At this point we can start with the in-depth question/answer...

The new AF, "MOVING FRAGMENTS", which I listened to in preview, is about to be released, and having 50 years gone by since your debut album it is natural to ask you the substantial differences between your new proposal and that of your debut. The album appears full of different ingredients, and compared to '73 the diversification also concerns the language, which is no longer just English: need to convey some messages clearly?

In the progressive scene, Acqua Fragile always appears as an outsider group, not properly inserted into Italian prog. It is no coincidence, for example, that the band is excluded from specific compilations, and is the only Italian prog unit that has never been invited to perform in Japan, despite the fact that I toured with PFM in 1975. Singing some songs in Italian, after the experiment of "Tu per lei" in the previous album it wants, in some way, to draw attention to the fact that the band is able to express itself across the board.

My feeling is that there is a fair distance between AF's music at the beginning and his current one: what do you think?

I do not agree. Take “Morning Comes” (1973) and dissect the various sections as they follow each other. Then take “Limerence Ethereal” and you will see that them parts move in similar succession. Musical composition after a specific, original, reference format!

Take the three-part vocal harmony; even on this album the leading part is often carried out by the highest voice.

Think about odd time signatures and you'll find them in all A. F. albums.

Take “Going Out,” choir without drums. Take “Moving Fragments”, same thing.

Take the theatricality of “Three Hands Man” and “Professor”… you'll find it in “Her Shadow's Torture” and “Malo Bravo”, for example...

There are many collaborators, not just Italians: how did the choice of "external" musicians come about?

Historically, the work around this new fourth album began at the end of December 2017, after a nice concert at the Club Il Giardino.

Subsequently, the new guitarist Michelangelo Ferilli, for family reasons, left the band, so that not only work on the new material was interrupted, but the search for a new guitarist was started ’till Claudio Tuma was found.

In the meantime, however, we had some live commitments that could only be fulfilled with Ferilli, as he already knew the historical repertoire.  

In short, the group had difficulty working on two fronts, live performing and the new album, but certainly Covid, and above all the various lockdowns, directed us towards expanding the group of participants in the project. We reached each player for different purposes in the most disparate ways.

Compared to half a century ago, there is a frightening technological leap, and an episode of the album focuses precisely on Artificial Intelligence: how do innovation and modernity impact on a progressive music album released in 2023?

For several years now, I have been working remotely with very good musicians and with names with whom I would never have dreamed of establishing a creative dialogue in the 70s.

Today's musician not only has an instrument to play on but also a computer with a dedicated program for recording and a sound card for digitizing the sounds. We could say that recording musicians were pioneers in “Smart Working!".

Making the title of a song coincide with that of the album always has a very specific meaning: what do the "Moving Fragments" of the album stand for?

Not only from today, but today above all, all the moments of our days are nothing more than fragments. Multitasking, sounds, images, memories, feelings... framed in our cell phone, sorted with "copy and paste", secreted in USB sticks, seen over again on TV, chewed in text messages, moved around by our finger on the flat screen...

Among the guest musicians there is also Gigi Cavalli Cocchi, who, in addition to being present as an instrumentalist, created the cover and the new logo of the band: can you tell me about the meaning of the cover?

Gigi really did a great job! The cover simply reports elements that are described in the lyrics. The shadow of “Her Shadow's Torture”, the white horse of “White Horse On Dope”, the floating title of “Moving Fragments”, the snake eating its own tail off “Malo Bravo” and so on.

Gigi Cavalli Cocchi

How important is the work of Dario Mazzoli, who is the album's producer?

First of all, Dario, who is a musician himself and, after producing my “Horizontal Rain” solo album, turned out to believe in this project also, but, above all, he was on my side, even artistically, in refining and giving depth to everything.

“MOVING FRAGMENTS” comes out in the year of the celebrations of your 50 years of professional activity, the VOX 50 which has seen - and is still seeing - dedicated and varied events, but the official concert at the end of July allowed us to have a preview of the album since the music started with “Il Suono Della Voce”(“The sound of the voice”): can you tell me about the song and how your concept of the ”use of the voice" has evolved over time?

The melody of “Il Suono Della Voce” probably dates back to the Acqua Fragile 70s. The piece, only instrumental at the time, didn't even make it to the rehearsal room but resurfaced when later, during the period in which I was hanging out with Ivano Fossati (top singer and songwriter in Italy), I followed his advice to include vocal parts. I asked for time and so that instrumental piece was first registered with the title "Dammi Tempo” (Give Me Time). Once everything was developed, I messed around with words, in English and Italian, until I defined "Il Suono Della Voce".

There are various legends about voice and singing. Some are misleading, others manipulated. At the moment, I really like what an alternative medicine doctor told me: singing is the first form of medicine for the body and the spirit. In ancient times, man sang or tried to sing to regain his physical and mental balance.

Let's move on to a more in-depth analysis song after song, starting with "Her Shadow's Torture", which upon impact creates a strong pathos and produces a very "classic" setting, at times cinematic: how was it born and what is its meaning?

Musically I frame “HST” as a classic Prog song.

Classical intro, romantic verses, more aggressive chorus with a bass/guitar counterpoint that fights with the synthesizer arpeggio. The final part is a glimpse into the dark chamber of torture…

The subject is obsessed, not so much by the figure of this femme fatale but by her shadow as an object of desire to cross through or being enveloped by.

I was puzzled to hear "White Horse On Dope", after reading that Stef Burns was on it. I would never have compared, obviously mistakenly, to progressive music. How did this very unusual collaboration come about?

I had been invited to a concert by Stef who performed as a Trio and I was won over by the musical taste, the friendliness of the character and the exactly rock sound of his guitar. When he launched into some very intriguing blues with dissonant chords, I was hooked. Wanting to check the impact on the audience, I then turned around to discover that, with that song, most of the people had left the venue…

The song “WHoD” needed an “impeccable” sounding guitar and I was happy to have Mr. Burns on board after he agreed to play the piece where odd timing bars reign supreme.

You have already told me about the title track, but I would like you to go into some technical detail, as it is not easy for me to decode.

I wrote that song on the guitar, interspersing an obsessive mini riff with chords which then, as I proceeded with the arrangement, I discovered were not chords. Especially in the West Coast tradition, on the guitar it is possible to formulate what Joni Mitchell reported to Wayne Shorter as "suspensions" which, in fact, inspired the theme of "moving fragments" without a precise, sharp geometry.

Even “Malo Bravo” seems to me to be very complex musically speaking, and to complete it you relied on two very Italians like Sergio Ponti and Brian Belloni: it gave me the impression of an overcoming of prog, in the sense of research that goes beyond the genre and seeks a hypothetical and hopefully “new”… tell me about it!

“Malo Bravo” is another piece born several years ago although limited, at that time, to only two arpeggios in 7/4. The beauty and kick of composing in odd time signatures is that it comes out easy for the writer but a little less immediate for the performer.

We were lucky to have Brian Belloni on guitars and Sergio Ponti on drums. They both chew the odds very well. I find the song very theatrical and the Italian lyrics underline its character.

With “I A - Intelligenza Artificiale” (In English A I), Stefano Pantaleoni comes back as co- author (after the opening song) and Rossella Volta duets with you. But it is the topic that appears intriguing and, above all, analyzed in times when it seemed like something extremely distant and not within everyone's reach...

I wrote the lyrics and the melodies for this track, the backing track is all Stefano’s work, more than three years ago when this subject was not so in fashion, yet.

The topic creates contrast with the vaguely medieval musical world, celebrating a modality that is not unusual in Prog.

“Black Drone” features a now “very Italian” David Jackson who, well encouraged, played his horns all over the place!! But which black drone is the piece referring to?

The threatening “Black Drone” at the beginning of the piece then becomes cheeky and playful to end up as an element of everyday life. Seeing it flying is like looking at the green grass of a front yard or hearing a dog barking in the distance...

“DD Danz” is an instrumental by Maestro Pantaleoni, keyboard player of the band: also in this case I ask you to clarify the meanings, impossible to grasp in the absence of lyrics...

Well here, the “Black Drone” is joined by other drones to perform their own unique dance. Previous Acqua Fragile albums never had a full instrumental so the inclusion is not accidental.

The title DD DANZ is a sort of slang, corruption of “The Drone Dance”.

The album ends with “Limerence Ethereal” and the feeling is precisely that of closing down the circle, with a calm intro and an important crescendo, almost dramatic in the atmosphere: tell me more…

Thanks for reporting the correct reading of the passage.

Platonic love seen as an illness or romantic behavioral disorder. First treated in an artistic way, "rainbow at midnight", naturally quoting Dante and Beatrice and then Lolita, calling out "Bonita" and, suddenly, the melody unfolds, yearns and is consumed around the diagnoses, almost scientific, about that feeling of an exclusive pulsation, those alterations of the senses as the only possible love in the Universe.

What do you expect from this new recording project?

Although masses appear homologated in following what the players on the market are pushing, there are many individuals who love musical forms that I would define as more noble, more artistic or, simply, more honest, because singers do sing and musicians do play!

Are there legitimate hopes of being able to see Acqua Fragile performing “MOVING FRAGMENTS” live?

Bands crazy enough to profess progressive rock always had to deal with maximum expenses for instruments and logistics. Now, with a few exceptions, these expenses have grown dramatically.

Once upon a time we were out to play for little money, today... to be on stage, we have to pay!