Dare
Arc Of The Dawn

It's raining. Two steps is the distance that separates me from the just-closed car, but the shoes immediately dress in mud: walking on an immense piece of butter is a pleasant sensation. The ground beneath my feet is undecided about what to do: support me or suddenly collapse? The deep footprints that form are soon filled with streams of water. It's not cold, the mist has taken over the hills and, given the absence of wind, it doesn't seem to want to move. I don't mind the rain: it's very light and almost pleasant to the touch. I hold the camera in my hand and take a slow step onto a path. Searching for a shot that can capture the autumn and the imminent handover to the early winter. I crouch and zoom in on red leaves twisted on the grass. Click. The low clouds swallowing the valley. Click. A worm digging. I firmly shoot the chestnut trees. And there it is up there, the first shy snow at low altitude.

I arrange the photos with a steaming cup at hand: a fleeting glance to decide their death (trash) or life (work on them meticulously). I lie on the bed and while listening to the rain pounding on the roof tiles with renewed vigor, I listen to a CD. Today has been a pleasantly slow day, savored with calmness and without anxieties. I decide to let the voice of ex Thin Lizzy keyboardist Darren Wharton in. Reflective, relaxing atmospheres permeate this progressive rock in which acoustic and electric guitars blend into a melodic sound, never too exuberant, in symbiosis with a rhythm section that rarely accelerates. A skillful rough voice capable of leaning on the six-string embroideries for mature melodies with now melancholic and now more cheerful tones during solos. Brief acoustic interludes with a rich Celtic flavor enrich tracks with certain appeal.

As you may have understood, in this photograph I didn't use the zoom. I didn't care about the details because "Arc Of The Damn" is not a work that can be defined as heterogeneous. Darren and his band sing and play music with well-defined contours; an untrained ear might hear a great similarity in the pieces, as if it were a single great continuous sound.

I listen and feel my heartbeat slowing down, I relax completely, and close my eyes as I sink into the duvet. Dews' tapping is a fine rain that cleanses the atmosphere of the mid-tempo anticipation in "Dublin". The drums increase imperceptibly in rhythm and a cheerful, welcoming piece materializes, "Shelter In The Storm", on which it’s pleasant to let go. It's like being at camping times when, in front of a crackling fire, every nonsense spoken becomes jam to spread on warm bread. Darren raises the tone of his voice, the guitars gain strength, in the promise "I Will Return", and we really believe it as we watch amazed at the exuberant crescendo. It slows down in the sad "When". Electric slashes target the foundations of a house of cards that almost doesn’t attempt a defense. Moments of waiting, exuberance, melancholy intertwine for 60 minutes of truly impeccable ethnic/rock music that leaves a mark and doesn’t make you feel the need to choose the songs but let the CD die naturally with Darren’s last breath.

For years, I believed that records, to remain in memory, had to be played with extreme force and physicality; that the instruments, semi-destroyed, at the end of the work could do nothing but fall exhausted: like a marathon runner just reached the finish line. I am discovering a new sound world, slower. The perfectly oiled music slips away effortlessly into my ears and remains stuck there. It seems like a Federer one-handed backhand. Class.

N.B. "The Flame", a cover of Cheap Trick, is of rare workmanship, skillfully arranged, but Darren's version of "Emerald" by Thin Lizzy assumes the character of one of those pieces to be passed on to posterity; immune to repeated listens with that waterfall solo contrasting with the acoustic and Celtic sound. You wouldn’t want it to ever end.

I wish I could scratch them on the screen, to make them stay, these 5 stars.

ilfreddo

TRACKLIST

1. "Dublin"
   
2. "Shelter In The Storm"
   
3. "Follow The River"
   
4. "King Of Spades"
   
5. "I Will Return"
   
6. "Emerald"
   
7. "When"
   
8. "The Flame"
   
9. "Still Waiting"
   
10. "Kiss The Rain"
    
11. "Remember"
    
12. "Circles"