ALL'INDIETRO

ArcaMiri are an experimental band from Syracuse, Italy, formed in 2017. This latest offering is a digital single available through the band's Bandcamp page, and it was released with a promotional video on YouTube. Musically, it's something of a unique blend of avant-garde that meshes together modern production values with the smoky memories of saucier vintage groups like Opus Avantra, Pierrot Lunaire, or early '70s Battiato; think "Pollution." I love the use of piano and bass to open the track in an unusual way, the piano melodies rolling over each other. About two minutes in, Simona's vocals come in and the mood is one of growing unease, yet the sound is also beautiful at the same time. Unnerving yet beautiful. Piano soon falls away and a harsh rhythmic synth section enters. The solo piano returns for the final minute as we hear what sounds like rainfall in the background. Seven minutes of sublime RPI that just fell into my lap today (by popping into my feed!)

As an English-only speaker, I had to run the lyrics through an online translator, and so I'm likely missing out on much context and nuance by doing so. What I interpret the lyrics to be about is the loss of youth and wanting to go back to the feelings and energies and passions of youth, but not simply in the physical sense of the body feeling better. That's part of it, but I think they are speaking about much more here. I think in a philosophical and emotional sense, they are talking about the experience of being young: love, hate, rivalries, exhilaration, looking at life through a lens of hope and wonder rather than a lens of melancholy. As painful of a time as youth can be, both good and bad, there is still an intense rush of being young that, once it slips away, we are not allowed to taste again. We like to pretend we can: "I'll never grow up. I'm young at heart." Meh. Not really. If we're honest, aging is increasingly about loss on many fronts, and we can attempt to distract ourselves with affirmation or we can face it with reason and faith. But again, I don't speak Italian, so perhaps my attempt to understand their meaning is off. If so, my apologies to the band. Pick it up today. I dug it. I wish it had been longer!