L' Anima is the brainchild of London-based musician Pedro J. Caparros Lopez (Breed 77) and started off as a collaboration between Pedro and lead singer Andy Mitchell, who fronted the legendary Yardbirds from 2009 – 2015. frontman of the Yardbirds. Both are seasoned musicians, who have toured and recorded extensively, and it was a shared love of Progressive music that initially brought them together. The band's final line-up was rounded out by guitarist Mauro Paderni, bassist Luca Forlani and drummer Iban Sanz. I was intrigued to hear this, especially to see what the vocals were going to be like, as Jim McCarty is in the envious position of being able to pick only the best musicians in the world to be part of that band, so what would Andy be doing here?
As I expected, he is a great singer, with a very smooth style and great control: he also has a very strong understanding of his range so doesn’t try to push his vocals into areas where he isn’t comfortable. In many ways, he reminds me of the great Chris Farlowe (surely one of the most under-rated singers ever to come out of the UK), and is quite different to most of those currently within the prog scene. He even manages to knock out a falsetto when the need arises. Although the band has been inspired by progressive rock, this is much more in the classic rock territory, bringing in the stylings when they need to, but for the most part they are in your face and cranking it hard. The music is complex, and they bring in multiple styles (including Spanish guitar), with the result being something that is fresh and exciting at all levels, while also being very different to the rest of the scene.
