Be Forest
Earthbeat

I have always looked with suspicion at lightning-fast reviews on the day an album is released or worse, pre-reviews: sometimes I find it very difficult to form a precise and definitive idea of a certain work. In fact, sometimes I have the suspicion, indeed the certainty, confirmed by my experience, that a judgment free from any reconsideration sometimes doesn't even exist.

Why am I telling you all this? Because in the end, when it comes to deciding whether they are numbers, stars, pellets, or whatever you want, I often find myself in embarrassment, convinced that time makes (or has made) me change my mind from one listening session to another, making me hesitate before pressing the fateful send button. It happened this time too.

But setting aside this aspect, I can move on to what interests the reader most: describing “Earthbeat” for what it is, starting from the evocative cover.

This follow-up, produced once again by We Were Never Being Boring, is a work that flows quickly, thanks also to its duration (32 minutes) and the episodes, only nine, just enough to avoid repetition.
The young original trio Costanza Delle Rose (vocals, bass), Erica Terenzi (vocals, drums), Nicola Lampredi (guitar) has now been joined by Lorenzo Badioli on synths, a useful addition for the new path undertaken.

After the fascinating ambient intro of “Totem,” we quickly move to one of the singles, “Captured Heart,” the first important hint that something has changed. This thesis is further confirmed by the subsequent “Lost Boy,” “Ghost Dance,” and “Airwaves,” where a more reassuring sound with an exotic charm makes its way, even more delicate than before and where percussion and instruments like harps, sitars, and flutes appear, however almost imperceptibly and never excessively, blending well into the sonic web.
As imperceptible and almost hinted is the fairy-tale voice of Costanza, no longer enveloped by the fog of “Cold” but supported by the warm beats of a reassuring magical land populated by grotesque goblins and fairy creatures.

Scrolling through the tracklist, we find the second instrumental “Totem II,” the other interesting single “Colours,” and skipping the dispensable “Sparkle,” we reach the conclusion with “Hideway” with oriental nuances.

By the end, we have the certainty that the guys, after the cold new-wave debut “Cold” probably influenced by their listens and tastes, with this second “Earthbeat” wanted to be more ambitious, trying to give the Be Forest brand a more personal characterization, seeking their own path.