L'ASSENZA

Sithonia has been around the RPI scene for about 25 years, releasing over that period five studio albums and a live album, all fairly solid entries into the second wave of RPI canon. Over the last 14 years, members of the band wrote and recorded several songs in a slightly different style, more in a singer-songwriter vein than Sithonia, with progressive and Mediterranean shadings. Sithonia keyboardist Paolo Nannetti and guitarist Marco Giovannini decided to take these songs and create a side project. They added three members (Maurizio Lettera on drums, Maya Seagull on bass, and Maria Robaey on violin) and enlisted other Sithonia personnel to assist on the final recordings. The result is the debut album by the band Méséglise, entitled "L'assenza."

The music of Méséglise on this debut album is highly melodic art rock, mainly laid back with a distinct Mediterranean sound, including much piano and frequent accordion. There are many keyboard flourishes that make prog fans feel right at home (including a fair bit of mellotron), and the ambience created is a comfortable, nostalgic one. The songs are always well written if not complex, sometimes brooding, other times content, often wistful. But the music is always welcome, never tiresome, and the experience is overall a very enjoyable one. Samples are readily available on the web, and the album is widely distributed by Lizard. 4- stars (Gnosis 11/15)