Now come on, music like this just doesn’t get released these days. It’s 2013! Didn’t anyone check the calendar? Imagine Cat Stevens mixed with early Genesis, Yes, Al Stewart and possibly just a little Gentle Giant and you may get somewhere close to understanding what this wonderful album is like. It is a summery burst of sunshine, where it is all about great music and plenty of acoustic guitars with swathes of keyboards to boot. It is fragile yet strong, modern yet extremely vintage and the result is something that is like a breath of fresh air to these poor abused ears of mine.
This Italian trio is led by Valerio Smordoni (lead and backing vocals, MiniMoog, keyboards, piano, harmonium, acoustic guitar, tambourine and Taurus Pedals) and he is joined by Manolo D'Antonio (acoustic and 12-string guitar, electric guitar, classical guitar, ukulele and backing vocals) and Marco Avallone (bass, synth bass, Taurus Pedals and percussions) plus a few guests to provide some additional timbres. It really is a thing of beauty, and I only hope that we are going to be hearing a great deal more from them as this progressive/folk debut is a delight. Visit their bandcamp site to get this for just €7.
cameliasgarden.bandcamp.com
