CANVAS TWO

Lush Landscapes, Plentiful Passions

Exactly a year ago INNER PROSPEKT AKA 'Roman Dreamer' and keyboard wizard Alessandro Di Benedetti (Mad Crayon, Samurai of Prog) released "Canvas One", incorporating several of his re-imagined, re-interpreted tunes done by other bands as well as some new material.

Here, with "Canvas Two", he does the same.

And staying true to the grandeur and skillful blending of classicism, jazz, symphonic progressive music, cinematic music, blues, and even some funk, INNER PROSPEKT has held to the same high standards.

Canvas Two

Bookended by two shorter instrumental tracks (actually track 8 is a bonus track, but I think it fits and flows nicely here), "Canvas Two" reveals six lovely, soulful, emotional tracks, with the for me high point of the nearly seventeen- and-a-half minute epic titled "Soul of Hundred Lives".

If there's a theme or concept here, it was hard for me to trace. That's not to say the tunes don't fit well together or frame a coherent whole.

Glimpse

Opening the album with delicate piano and soon adding lush strings, violin over acoustic guitar and organ, the piece builds into near orchestral fullness before subsiding back to the gentle piano and ending with just that bare touch of dissonance.

Soul of Hundred Lives

Reincarnation fascinates, since it suggests the possibility one can live many lives, practicing a la 'Groundhog Day' the kindness and selflessness that might finally allow the person to 'arrive'. This epic track and the lyrics cover a lot of ground, from delicate piano, to grinding bass synths, to finely constructed ambient sounds and quirky percussion, gravelly male voice that throughout this album reminded me at times of Peter Gabriel or Dave Cousins.

King of Spades

I thought of Genesis with the 12-string guitar opening soon joined by jazzy, melodic sax. The hushed male voice pulls us in on this heartbroken-in-love song, wistfully singing over piano with the full band soon joining. Di Benedetti knows how to create lush soundscapes, using strings and woodwind sounds for fullness and texture. He also shows some vocal savvy with double tracking voices and doing call-and-response kinds of voicings.

Why Me

Gentle 12-string guitar opens after some brief windchime sounds, piano and strings soon added. There's a cinematic sweep segueing into guitar/bass tension with percussive piano. This subsides into male harmony vocals and builds into a sweeping passage. Again the wistful gentle melody, and a synth takes an upper register lead over punchy bass guitar and complex drumming. More of the call-and -response vocals and the violin leads a broad, sweeping passage that reeks of romanticism and emotions.

Abby's Escape

The lyrics here were disturbing, making me think of spousal abuse of a pregnant woman, the unborn child hearing, and then later splintering into selves trying to cope. There's a sense of quiet desperation, and perhaps even menacing hint of violence or self-harm. All this over some sweeping lovely passages, gentle piano chords, and string sounds closing the track.

White Skies

Grand piano chords open unadorned tapping out a wistful melody, then joined by bass and violin sounds. Emotional, hushed vocals tell about a dark passion between (two parts of one person?) (two people?), and ineffable loss, indicated by the lush synth-led passage over dreamy keyboards. Octave vocals and harmonies keep telling the tragic tale over mellotron sounds and deliberate rhythm section. It's a melancholy atmosphere, and mid-range synth takes the lead over the increasingly jagged guitar landscape. It builds to a majestic passage, and ends.

The Knight and the Ghost

Perhaps there IS a theme (!)- tragic loss, heartbreak, making supreme effort but failure. The closing track of Canvas Two proper, opens with that sweet acoustic guitar, the trademark wistful, gravelly vocals, growing into strings over thrumming bass and drums, a clean guitar lead, building as the singer says "When I fight I lose"- that world-weary sense of frustration and loss.

Queen of Clubs

The bonus track has that airy, jazzy, soulful sax at first alone, the joined by twinkling guitar and electric piano, a haunting progression that is light yet melancholy. Sax continues singing and weeping, and ends in reverie...then revitalizes with a swell of string sounds and orchestration, building as the electric guitar wails and sings, then fades.

In Conclusion

Alessandro Di Benedetti as INNER PROSPEKT has delivered another gem of crossover progressive music, tugging at the heart as well as the mind. My rating: 4 sparkling stars.

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