THROUGH THE MIRROR

Alice's Mirror were formed in 2016 in Ruvo di Puglia, a town in the province of Bari, with the aim of playing a personal kind of progressive rock merging influences from the past and modern sounds. After some time spent in composing original pieces and refining them playing gigs on the local scene, in 2018 the band released an interesting debut album entitled "Through The Mirror" on the independent label Hydra Music with a line up featuring Fulvio Bucci (vocals, bass), Eduardo Bucci (organ, piano, keyboards), Walter Antonio Lanotte (guitars, bouzouki, lap steel) and Michele Di Modugno (drums, pad). The album artwork by Francesco Pio Marcone reflects the musical content and in the pics you can find in the booklet you can also appreciate all the attention that the musicians pay to the visual aspect of their music, influenced by the novel of Lewis Carroll and the colourful, animated film by Walt Disney. According to the band, the mirror reflects what we are and it could be seen as a gate to enter the soul of a musician while Alice ? the protagonist of a journey through a surreal, crazy world ? represents a metaphor of the musical research of the band...

The dreamy instrumental opener "Fake communication N1" starts softly by a spacey atmosphere and ends with an excerpt from the 1981 Italian comedy-drama film "Sweet Dreams" directed by Nanni Moretti where you can hear Nanni Moretti's enraged voice repeat "I do not speak about things I don't know!". It's the introduction to "Fake Communication" a committed, heartfelt reflection about the negative effects of social media on our way to communicate where words become just noise and too many people seem to speak up without anything to say, prisoners of the likes on their chats...

An excerpt from the Italian version of "Alice In Wonderland", the 1951 American animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions introduces the excellent instrumental piece "Alice's Dance" that blends echoes from the seventies and nervous heavy passages with electric guitar and organ in the forefront. It leads to "Ronin", a kind of elegy for a lost friend that begins by a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio and a dreamy piano pattern. The mood is melancholic as the music and words depict pale clouds in a still sky and blossoming flowers in the fields... The springtime landscape is the sad set for the last goodbye to a wandering warrior, a samurai without lord nor land... This track features the backing vocals of the Corale Polifonica "Rubis Canto" directed by Maestro Nicola Bucci.

A short excerpt from a documentary about Johann Sebastian Bach that stigmatizes the bad temper of the famous composer introduces "Bachtown", a sparkling exercise of style where the musicians showcase their talent and great musicianship blending rock and classical music, from Bach to Mozart and his Turkish March from the Piano Sonata in A Major n. 11...

"Merigold" is a nice folksy piece that deals with the issue of emigration. You have to face a problematic choice, are you really sure you'll be happier if you leave behind and forget your homeland and roots to search for a better place where to live and make money? Is this the life you really want? All that glitters is not always gold...

Two instrumental tracks close the album, the nervous "Jump The Step" and the long, dreamy "Arabian Carpet", sprinkled with Oriental flavours and touches of psychedelia to conjure up a strong sense of mystery and where aggressive electric guitar riffs alternate with softer, acoustic passages.

On the whole, a very good album although I think that it's a pity that the band did not exploit more their mother language for lyrics and vocals.