OVERTURE

Italian group Overture began as Sons of the Rascals back in January 2010, but it's taken a name change, a tweaking of the original line-up and several years for the group to be ready to offer their confident self-titled debut in 2018, but the wait has been very much worth it! Containing five lengthy compositions, their music mixes the keyboard dominated colour of F.E.M Prog Band and La Coscienza di Zeno with the infectious youthful spirit of Unreal City - a big influence here. Controversially performing in both English and Italian, their music is full of lush electronics, grand guitar runs and piano prettiness alongside flute, violin and double bass, and their debut offers everything from elegant symphonic touches, classical grandiosity and jazzy detours, all taken even further by charismatic theatrical vocals in the rich vintage Italian prog tradition.

After a brief mood-setting introduction of icy synth drama, there's a constant breathless momentum to `Lux Et Ombra', full of up-tempo sprints of Simone Meli's zippy and whirring keyboards, Stefano Sanna's pulsing bass murmurs and Simone Desogus' snappy drum bursts. Luigi Ventroni's alluring raspy drawl purrs in and out of the tune, and there's gorgeous flute courtesy of flautist Fiorella Piras that moves between huffing danger and reflective prettiness. Also working in elegant piano interludes, moody gothic choir passages, Samuele Desogus's snaking guitar tangles and even jazzy diversions, it's an unpredictable and ambitious opener. `Il Mendicante' continues the sophistication and boasts incredible extended classical piano and electric guitar showcases that are true `wow' moments in amongst a heartbreakingly moving recurring melody.

It's at this half-way point that `Overture' switches to English language pieces (more on this below), and the first is `A Deer In The River'. The reflective first half conveys great tenderness and is full of gentle P.F.M and Genesis-like acoustic passages and soothing synth trills, then the remainder diverts into an exotic symphonic lift. There's endless spacey synths throughout `Crop Circles' (unsurprisingly with its alien theme!) and powerful guitar dominance, with no shortage of standout soloing spots from all the players. The gothic mystery of closer `Ephesia's Chime' holds plenty of delicate moments that are constantly met with spiky dangerous blasts, all culminating in a bombastic ending.

`Overture' admittedly makes for a conflicting album. Make no mistake, every bit of the instrumental arrangements are superb, but the decision to switch languages at the half-way point is a miscalculation. Luigi can truly be commended for his good grasp of English, but it still makes for a jarring transition. Sung in Italian, the music flows with so much naturally romantic passion and vigour, but in English it's a little clunky in comparison. If it had all been English, it probably wouldn't have mattered so much (and some Italian bands, like Syndone and Barock Project do the English performance well), but English on Italian prog-rock albums definitely robs the music of such a crucial part of its identity and character.

(Let's try to put a more positive spin on it though - if any worldwide listeners were intimidated at the thought of listening to a prog album sung in another language for the first time, perhaps the dual languages here would make for an ideal and easier introduction?)

But overlooking that (and if you don't mind the dual languages, it won't matter), `Overture' still remains a strikingly memorable first album of energetic playing, colourful arrangements and singing full of character from an exceptionally talented group of young musicians, and it's a quiet little Italian prog standout of 2018 that deserves to raise Overture's profile even higher. Mark Overture down as a new Italian prog band to keep a close eye on in the future.

Four stars - well done Overture!