Alice
Mezzogiorno Sulle Alpi

A record for dreamers and thinkers, a small great vision of the balance of the earth and man, this is "Noon on the Alps."

It is not easy to describe the emotions and sensations that arise from listening to this album. It doesn't have much in common with the previous "Sun in the Rain"; it distances itself mainly in the themes that Alice addresses, no longer Camisasca's texts rich in oriental philosophies and great meditations. Now new perceptual horizons open up, and the relationship between man and environment is investigated from a more strictly earthly point of view, the city with its dynamics perpetually in contrast with natural homeostasis. The work was published in 1992 and is undoubtedly one of the highlights of European music of the last twenty years. Just consider what was going on at that time to realize that managing to craft a record so rich in poetry and charm is no small feat. And if you add the collaborations with great musicians such as Paolo Fresu, Dave Gregory from XTC, Jakko Jakszyk, and the indispensable ex-Japan Richard Barbieri, the circle closes perfectly. "Noon on the Alps" already begins with the cover featuring the Edelweiss, Lavender, and Alice with the Alps in the background, an elegance for the eyes truly pleasant that can only be perceived by holding the vinyl and feeling the material consistency of the art. The intro is entrusted to Paolo Fresu's trumpet and a delicate acoustic guitar arpeggio that guides us into the programmed rhythm of "In Viaggio Sul Tuo Viso," an immediately thrilling start, and Alice begins to sing this story of lost happiness and souls lost in the void of the modern era, of faces that seem like "The side without windows of a building," and in the end, we live "Only weak feelings postulated by tension; Abandoned by emotion," sublime then the final opening once again with Fresu and Alice singing "The air is clear in the sky, the wind brings the sound of bells," marking a return to the naturalness of emotions and magnificently opening to "Passano Gli Anni," flutes, acoustic guitars, and her voice for a track of a class that leaves you breathless. The only cover present is "Blue Melody" by Tim Buckley, jazzy, slow, and intricate atmospheres that lead us to "Neve D'Aprile," Gavin Harrison's drums tap the rhythm of this multifaceted track that once again deals with relationships with oneself, the search for equilibrium made ever more vain by society's frantic becoming, "I returned home tired and confused; all those shops, those poor people, so much hurry for nothing"; similar themes are treated in "Rain Town," written with Barbieri, suspended atmospheres for an anthem to the rain that erases the superficialities of the everyday. Above all, the musical rendition of "La Recessione," by Pasolini from "La Meglio Gioventù," stands out, a need to go back, to descend and say enough, and in 1992 Italy was indeed in full recession and one could truly say enough with a certain kind of politics and business, and yet here we still are, trapped by our ineptitude. "Noon on the Alps" in the end is a record that escapes simple musical classification, it is poetry, it is art, it is a dream that fights with reality, the other half of "Sun in the Rain," listening to it is a liberating experience, making one more aware of what we are. . "small shadows on the clouds".