Back in 1993 the Italian band The Bel Am released an EP called ‘Eteranl Carmine’ and they promptly disappeared without trace. Now, some twenty years later, their singer Maria Cristina Anzola has joined with Davide Borghi (Albireon, Ekra) to create The Blue Project. Before you ask, there is no ‘s’ on the end of ‘Blue’, whatever LastFM may think as they autocorrect it. These guys are here not looking at the blues as a basis for what they are doing, but instead are creating something that is new, existing, otherworldly and at times quite disturbing. What we have here are the marrying together of an incredible female soprano with soundscapes that are sometimes gentle and ambient, lulling the listener into believing that they are listening to New Age, while at others it is jarring and contains noise and other aspects that are far more threatening and surreal.
There are times when I am reminded of the classic Italian prog horror band Goblin (who I saw in concert last week here in NZ, can’t believe it!). Like Goblin, they have these guys have the knack of creating something that on the surface is delicate and gentle but emotionally it is fare more than that and definitely has a much darker side. An album that can be listened to on many levels, this is far more complex than the simple use of vocals and musical textures may lead one to believe. Riccardo Spaggiari of Ataraxia guests on “The Glass Child”, and all in all this is an album that is both different and well worth investigating.
www.eibonrecords.com
