THAUMA CINCINNATO: L'ESSERE E L'AURIGA

Cincinnato split up in 1973 and it wasn't until 2010 that two original members, Giacomo Urbanelli (piano, keyboards) and Gianni Fantuzzi (guitars), had a new go under the name Thauma Cincinnato along with Franco Erenti (keyboards, synth) and Paolo Burattin (bass, acoustic guitar) who had already collaborated with the band in the seventies. In 2016 they self-produced a new album entitled "L'essere e l'auriga", mixing modern sounds and vintage atmospheres and with more focus on lyrics than on their debut work from the seventies. During the recording sessions they were helped by some guests such as Graziano Rampazzo (drums), Ilaria Guerra (vocals), Tina Nocerino (vocals), Erminio Grassi (percussion), Luciano Cirino (piano), Fra Flower (darbuka, percussion), Serena Erenti (French horn) and Maurizio Vaccalluzzo (trumpet) who gave their contribute to enrich the sound while Salvatore Scianna took charge of the album cover...

The opener "Colori di noi" (Colours of us) is a slow, reflective track where music and lyrics conjure up a wave of melancholy that hugs you, light and strong like a veil, coloured and transparent. Hidden, painful emotions and disquieting feelings are like mysterious colours that only our eyes can perceive...

The nervous "Espectadores Part 1" follows alternating almost obsessive rhythms, hypnotic passages and charming flamenco guitar patterns. It depicts in music and words dizzying, hammering images hitting heavily upon a passive audience. Between news, arguments, debates and many contradictions eventually what's left is a desperate need to switch off the devilish media machine...

"La peste" (The plague) is a sarcastic bluesy jazz ballad that deals with a kind of social plague provoking the degeneration of ideals and the regression of civilization. As social dynamics and political debates turn into wild animal fights, the memories of the past got lost leading to a present where optimism and sweet oblivion are the therapy that set a sleepy mankind free from the spectre of freedom and its responsibilities...

The rather weak "Dialogo" (Dialogue) is an ironic piece where male and female vocals play the role of a man and a woman whose marriage is falling apart, a dialogue that evokes an outrageous and bitter battle... Then it's the turn of the soft, dreamy "In bici nel parco" (Cycling in the park) that begins by a delicate classical guitar arpeggio and tells in music and words of a quiet, idyllic park ride of a man and a woman in a sunny day on their bicycles. It marks a strong contrast with the previous track...

The title of the following "Dasein" refers to a fundamental concept in the existential philosophy of Martin Heidegger, a form of being that is aware of and must confront such issues as personhood, mortality and the dilemma or paradox of living in relationship with other humans while being ultimately alone with oneself. Here the music and lyrics invite you to search for time and a place where to stay in harmony with the human nature and the environment...

The melancholic, reflective "Tu" (You) tells of the difficulty to overcome the crisis of a relationship and hangs between nostalgia and time passing by while the sense of life escapes and the past becomes a border hard to cross... Then "Espectadores Part 2" conjures up the image of a person who seems losing his individuality getting lost in the crowd, like a sheep following the herd, looking at life like a spectator...

The last track, "Città Oceano" (City Ocean), begins by a dreamy instrumental section, then the sound of the waves in the background and a soft piano pattern lead to soaring vocals, calypso rhythms and exotic flavours depicting images of an imaginary city where the grey and noisy streets are dangerously crowded. It's a city that attracts and crumbles who fall under its wild, brutal charm. There are cars lined up like mannequins on the catwalk as groups of thirsty people look for the miraculous source of wondrous objects, fruits of a dreamy ocean. But as the images of this fantastic future world unfold before the eyes of the protagonist, he realizes that he does not want to change. For him it' better diving into the eyes of his sweetheart, in a lost desire that now touches his naked soul...

On the whole, a good album although very different from Cincinnato's eponymous debut work. Old fans could be a bit disappointed...