LA BALLATA DEL VECCHIO MARINAIO

Una Volta Eravamo In Sette are from Forli Italy and formed in 2008. In 2010 they released their debut work 'La ballata del vecchio marinaio' which was inspired by the Coleridge poem 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.' The album was published as a download-only from the website Jamendo and you can listen to it by linking from their artist page. The album is an enchanting mix of classic 70s prog spirit in an updated package. A concept album where you can feel the connection to the seafaring adventures, the story is told in large part instrumentally but there are occasional vocals and narration. The overall vibe is a mellow, often minimalist symphonic prog with a nod to the 70s RPI, and significant helpings of dreamy, low-key psych. Occasional tinges of hard rock, folk, and jazz come and go.

Tracks are often sparse and built upon ghostly piano melodies and atmospheric synth-scapes. Leading over the top much of the time are gorgeous flute melodies, this album is something of a flute lover's dream. While there is a brief early Tull flirtation with flute against hard rock, more often this is dreamy, luxurious, wispy flute playing. Lovely. Against this we have economical electric guitar patterns, often thoughtful but laid back chord progressions contributing to the 'distant' feel, a longing. Sometimes the sound opens up with wailing electric leads, often spacey in a Grobschnitt way with nice juicy sound. Other times dry acoustic and classical guitars lead the way. But overall the sound palette plays to the water theme and the vibe is one of melancholy, fogginess, possibly drifting and being lost. A bit of an ache for a return to familiar things. The vocals are decent but again are not the most out-front feature, they often are soft and relaxing, only occasionally getting dramatic in volume. Bass playing and drumming are quite tasty indeed, as are all of the musicians here. I believe Floyd is likely an influence as well, specifically the dreamy and bucolic vibes of Wright and Gilmour.

This is an album which should please prog fans of many stripes and is a very promising debut. The music is very good. I'd be lying if I said a download was as satisfying to me as a physical CD release with nice artwork and packaging, but if you just want to hear some good music, check this out. Again, the band generously offer this for free so there is no reason not to have a listen and let them know what you think!

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