SENDAI NEBULA

Formed back in 2010, Roman band Amministrazione Caos Popolare is comprised of players from a wide range of musical backgrounds, and that variety is constantly evident throughout their debut album from 2014, `Sendai Nebula'. With a title that references William Gibson's cyberpunk works and Ivan Pendretti's deep space photography to relate to both a sensory and physical state, it's an unpredictable album of contrasts and constantly shifting styles. The music is dreamy and unhurried one minute, harder-edged rock the next, with the majority of the album vocal-based and comprised of tightly written pieces that allow for carefully executed instrumental passages. Despite fleeting additions of folk, theatrical and classical elements expected of most RPI-related titles, the ACP band actually reveal a very original and unique style that sounds quite unlike a lot of the music coming from numerous other modern Italian acts.

Opener `Esistenzialista' is bookended with a gutsy driving hard sound full of energy behind a cautious yet cool vocal from Attilio Renzetti, and a reflective ambient break in the middle of chiming guitars and serene synths with a subtle cinematic flavour builds nicely. Sprightly and fast-paced to open and close with buoyant bass galloping around snappy drumming and an urgent vocal, `Onde' also diverts into a melancholic break with ghostly piano and an ocean of drifting disorientating voices. Despite retaining a fairly accessible tune, `Buio Assoluto' flirts with classical regal flavours before growing in power with some seriously dirty electric guitar snarl, and Attilio's wounded theatrical purr takes the piece to RPI heaven.

The sombre folk ballad `Liverpool' (sung in English) has heavier bursts and a striking solo piano spot, and `E la Luna Fuma' is darkly romantic with noisier outbreaks. Spacey electronics, murmuring bass and glistening electric piano blissfully float through instrumental `Abandon', one of the highlights of an already great disc and a nice diversion from the actual songs, where the acoustic guitar is warm and the electric cooks with a slow-burn fire. The ten-minute closer `Noel' is the longest and most ambitious piece on the disc, jumping back and forth between excited and hopeful upbeat moments with calmer reflective interludes of weeping guitar strains, before the piece roars to life in the finale with a sublime extended instrumental run from all the players performing to the best of their abilities.

On the surface, `Sendai Nebula' is not the flashiest or most attention-seeking of recent Italian works, but therein lies its greatest strength. This work is unpredictable and carefully reveals great class, restraint and maturity delivered by a fiercely talented group of musicians. Amministrazione Caos Popolare are off to a great start, and their equally delicate and boisterous little album deserves much more exposure and praise.

Four stars.