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Rating: The numerous admirers (including myself) of this composer, one of the most reserved and solitary in the entire international music scene, will not be disappointed. "The Law of Continuous Change" is a new and fascinating chapter in the artistic and professional journey of Alessandro Esseno, a composer and pianist with a significant body of work, and a consistently high-profile discography that began in 1990 with the release of his first album. This album, "The Law of Continuous Change," should be listened to more than narrated or explained: an impossible and futile task. Alessandro Esseno has made his refusal to appear in specialized journals or on television (except on rare occasions) his strength; the result is a distilled form of pure music. What he delivers is an imaginative sonic fresco where any points of contact with other sonic experiences have now evaporated, giving way to a type of music that defies categorization and is thus remarkably original. Equipped with impeccable piano technique, this is always put at the service of communication, never an end in itself. In this respect, the distance between Esseno and other trendy Italian pianists is vast. Created with the contributions of excellent English, German, and Italian musicians, the album revolves around the concept of energy, whether positive or destructive. Concepts easy to express in words, less so with sounds and noises. After the 2006 concept album "The Earth Does Not End at the Horizon" and the piano keys of 2010's "Pictures," Esseno (supported by significant sonic research) leads us into pristine and pure territories from the very start with "A Light Without Shadow (at the Beginning of Everything)," perfect within a Terrence Malick film, then abruptly shifts trajectory with other cruel and violent tracks like "A Deeply Unjust World," a true musical manifesto against the indecency of so-called "just wars." No war can ever be either just or holy. The album reaches its absolute peak in the track "An Irreplaceable Void," the quintessence of the best Crimsonesque experiences, where the spirit of the '70s is revived and updated to our times in a 2.0 form. Echoes of Ian McDonald or even Gabriel-esque flutes manage to evoke an emotion I personally have not felt in a long time.
Chillingly, Esseno's reinterpretation of the Anthem of Mameli in the track "A Lost Nation" sees the well-known and rhetorical national anthem "electronically break" at a certain point, giving way to sound layers that produce in the listener an absolute sense of alienation and disorientation: textbook work.
Great emotions, fleeting and eternal sensations at the same time. Music for refined palates, that of Esseno. A form of art that speaks to us about the exact opposite of what is violently imposed on us from morning to night. In this album, you will not find traces of X Factor or friends of God-knows-what, no semiquavers of bargain bin CDs or butts and boobs stuck to MTV cameras. Simply quite the opposite. Yet it is of absolute adherence to the reality of our days. An artist as concrete as few others but devoid of any kind of rhetoric or hypocrisy. A type of music that captures the failure of humanity, yet with the possibility of redemption within it. The announcement of an epochal change underway. The expectation of a new generation of human beings capable of saying no to the corruption of consciences. All of this in an album, a sort of musical manual for the years to come, as another iconic track of the album says, "After the Flood." After the disaster, I add. But Esseno goes further. From the future, hope will arrive. But it will not be beauty that saves the world as Dostoevsky had Prince Myshkin say, but rather love. Like Plato and Dostoevsky who abhorred this world, prey to ugliness, Esseno has not given up believing in the otherworldly beauty through the vehicle of music. Thus, respect and admiration for an authentic artist and his timeless art.
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