December 22, 2024

Skylight Webzine

Online since 2000

Italian Prog Legends Acqua Fragile Release New Album “Moving Fragments”!

Legendary Italian prog ensemble Acqua Fragile, fifty years after the first album by the same name in 1973, comes out with a brand new work, an album with totally original songs, entitled “Moving Fragments”.

Confirming the salient characteristics of A F style – vocal harmonies, odd tempo signatures, romanticism, aggression, theatricality, and research – some new features and significant developments embellish this new album.

The three original members of the band Piero Canavera (drums, percussion and vocals), Franz Dondi (bass), Bernardo Lanzetti (lead vocals, guitar and Glovox), are joined in by Stefano Pantaleoni (keyboards), Claudio Tuma (guitars) and the vocalist Rossella Volta, all previously together on stage in live adventures, over the past two years.

Nine songs of which five in English, one instrumental and three in Italian. Developing the mode experimented in Aqua Fragile’s previous work, “A New Chant”, released In 2017, there are numerous guest musicians including one British and one American.

In three songs, Bernardo Lanzetti’s creative motor is fueled by the contribution of keyboardist and composer Stefano Pantaleoni. The production is entrusted to Dario Mazzoli, already a partner of Lanzetti in various adventures in the recording studio, including his latest solo album “Horizontal Rain” (2021).
In detail, here’s the CD track list. Naturally for the vinyl, with sides A and B, the order is different:

  1. “Her Shadowʼs Torture” (S. Pantaleoni/B.lanzetti). Guest Gigi Cavalli Cocchi
    on drums but also produced the cover and the band’s brand new logo
  2. “White Horse On Dope” (B. Lanzetti). Guest guitarist Stef Burns
  3. “Moving Fragments” (B.Lanzetti)
  4. “Malo Bravo” (B.Lanzetti). Guests Brian Belloni/guitars and Sergio Ponti
    (drums)
  5. “I A – Intelligenza Artificiale” (S.Pantaleoni/B.Lanzetti). Guest Davide
    Piombino (7 string guitar)
  6. “Black Drone” (B.Lanzetti). Guests, Gigi Cavalli Cocchi (drums) and David
    Jackson (sax and flute)
  7. “DD Danz” (S.Pantaleoni). Instrumental
  8. “Il Suono Della Voce” (B.Lanzetti)
  9. “Limerence Ethereal” (B.Lanzetti). Guest Sergio Ponti (drums)

All guest musicians have militancy or knowledge of the Progressive Rock genre. The presence of Stef Burns who, in a concert with his Rock Trio, did positively strike Bernardo, is quite interesting. Of course, famous for his collaboration with Italian Big Star Vasco Rossi, Stef mentioned a previous period of research very close to Prog.

“White Horse On Dope”, the song featuring Mr. Burns on electric guitar, could be described as “Hard Rock in odd time” on which vocal harmony, in pure Acqua Fragile style, produces an eerie effect. “Black Drone” makes use of the total contribution of the horns of David Jackson, legendary player with Van Der Graaf Generator and frequent visitor to Italy. Once taken in all parts of the arrangement submitted by Bernardo, David went so far as to perform EVERYTHING!

Among the songs in Italian it is worth mentioning “IA Intelligenza Artificiale”, where the vocalist Rossella has two short solo parts, as the song was written three years ago, before the topic became so every day.

To purchase: 

Acqua Fragile – Moving Fragments – Amazon.com Music

https://maracashrecords.bandcamp.com/album/moving-fragments