Envy of None
Envy of None

Too many new projects and solo albums are coming out like mushrooms, and it's hard to keep up; I didn't know whether to give Envy of None a listen... but then there’s Alex Lifeson, not just anyone... and the singer is quite a hottie, yet another reason to dive headfirst into this new project.

Alex Lifeson certainly needs no introduction; he was the guitarist of the magnificent Rush, a cult band that significantly influenced my musical formation and remains unrivaled in several aspects. However, there’s no trace of Rush here. Unfortunately or fortunately? Well, I'd say fortunately; Rush should stay as they are, and a version 2.0 with other musicians wouldn’t make sense. However, the strangest thing is that we're in completely atypical territories for Lifeson's style; probably no one listening to the album without having read the lineup would imagine his presence. It all depends on how we’ve known Lifeson; until the other day, to me, he was a grand hard rock guitarist, the one who wanted his guitar to be heard above everything else, the one who didn’t much like "Signals," the one who considered the keyboard "not really a true instrument," the one who spent much time in the ‘80s arguing with Geddy Lee because he wanted to overuse keyboards and synthesizers.

The sound of Envy of None is instead a minimalist, stripped-down soft rock where the former Rush member is hardly heard and has few opportunities to unleash his style; the guitar is a timid little guitar peeking through the soundscapes, permeated with strange effects, vaguely psychedelic moans, and caressing noises, placed in a mostly electronic context dominated by synths with small sonic splinters; it's minimalist, ethereal, light, dreamy electronics. Overall, it’s close to dream pop, new age, or even shoegaze; it’s a hallucinogenic, effected, dreamy but at the same time sick music, more familiar and friendly to those already accustomed to swimming in psychedelic territories, much, much less to progressive lovers. Maiah Wynne's voice (I renew the invitation to check out her Instagram profile because it's worth it) seems designed precisely for this type of psychedelic and dreamy music; it's deliberately slender and velvety, seeming like a cross between Billie Eilish and Elizabeth Fraser.

It was a pleasant surprise, revealing a side of Lifeson we didn’t know; we've discovered he’s much more open to less rock sounds than we thought; well, actually, there's not much to be surprised about, given that with the original historic band, he went through decidedly different phases. However, this drastic shift is indeed astonishing. In my personal annual ranking, this debut album ranks quite high, and I hope it will be followed by more.