NIGHTS

Hailing from Milan, Frontecielo is the brainchild of two talented multi-instrumentalists, Donatella Basilico (keyboards, drums, percussion, lead vocals) and Piero Caniparo (electric and acoustic guitars, bass, guitar synth, backing vocals). Their project is an effort to blend different influences such as progressive rock, fusion, metal, pop, classical music and opera to express their feelings. After a long, painstaking work, in 2017 they self-released a debut album entitled "Nights", a concept album "sui generis" where all the tracks follow a common thread, inspired by nocturnal experiences. In fact, according to their website, the album's title comes from the consideration that in some way each piece has some connection with the night. The art cover painted by Donatella Basilico tries to capture the mood of this work...

The long opener "The Light Now" starts softly with a dreamy atmosphere, then sharp electric guitar riffs break in... The music and lyrics try to describe that particular moment when a person is going to fall asleep, ready to forget the daily problems and the real world. It's the moment when the doors of a deeper world open and something magic can happen, sudden and unexpected, when the dark wings of the night promise a sweet flight and everything starts to melt like colours on an enchanted canvas...

The melancholic "Shining Dreams" depicts regrets and fragile hopes crumbling like castles made of sand while the following "The Path Of Mirages" is a beautiful instrumental piece that conjures up far, mysterious lands and oriental flavours... It leads to the caustic "Sand Man" that portrays a man who blindly follows fashions and habits without thinking, a man made of his own fears, a man threatened by the wind of change and that could be blown away by a simple breath of vitality...

"Fragments", on the contrary, is a reflective piece that describes the feelings of a fugitive man who try to escape from the cage of the daily grind, exploring the darkest road of his soul to run after his dreams. Of his past there's nothing left but fragments of crystal dreams that now he tries to pick up and put together. Here the music and the voice of Donatella Basilico every now and again remind me of Natalie Merchant... It leads to the melodic ballad "Heart Of Time" that drives you in an inner emotional world where past, present and future melt together.

Then it's the turn of the evocative instrumental "Edmondo", influenced by Astor Piazzolla and the sounds of accordion... The ironic "Monsters & Regrets" ends the album. It starts by a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio before taking off like a vague Bohemian rhapsody and tells us that sometimes regrets could become like haunting monsters creeping out from our nightmares and following us everywhere we go, even in the subway...

On the whole, a nice work that deserves a try!