Ferry Corsten
Twice in a Blue Moon

The chain of listening experiences that led me to Ferry Corsten and this particular album is perhaps the only path with a minimal logical thread in my entire "career" as a music enthusiast: in the beginning, it was Rammstein. I didn't exactly understand why, but I felt that they had something more, a sound and a philosophy that resonated with what I was unconsciously looking for. If it wasn't the guitars, it must have been the synths, I'd concluded after some time. And so through Rammstein, I got to know Nina Hagen, then Gary Numan, then Information Society, and from there, the step towards the rich futurepop scene, which I am still exploring with great confirmation and satisfaction, was short. Through listening to tracks like "Into The Nightlife" by Cyndi Lauper, Nena from 2001 onwards, Chromeo, Sam Sparro, the talented and young Victoria Hesketh, and even the much-maligned Eiffel 65, I gradually developed a strong preference for electronic sounds serving original pop, relatively simple and effective, equidistant from both the media caravans of Hollywood-made pop stars and the equally fake and trendy ones of the so-called "indie scene." A personal "third way" to explore and cultivate with passion, enriching this virtuous path with a new step: listening to a DJ tout court, thus breaking down another prejudicial barrier; in the end, my choice fell on the Dutch Ferry Corsten, attracted by a spectacular reworking of a great track like "Kathy's Song" by Apoptygma Berzerk; a bit little but that's also my style, never deny oneself the pleasure of the gamble.

In pure random style, the first work of his that landed in my hands is "Twice In A Blue Moon" from 2008: one-third sung (by great vocalists like Julia Messenger, Maria Nayler, and Betsie Larkin) and two-thirds instrumental, it's an expression of electronic art at truly high levels. While maintaining a strongly pop imprint, that never gets lost in experimental sophisms and other sterile complications, you can be sure that in "Twice In A Blue Moon" you won't find a trace of silly tunes like those by David Guetta and similar, but a splendid collection of sounds, rhythms, and melodies, fascinating chiaroscuros, energy, hypnosis, and sensuality, never losing that indispensable measure of elegance, sobriety, and stylistic coherence. As the title suggests, this album has a dual soul; the more dance/pop-oriented side is naturally more immediate and expresses itself at the highest levels with a superb "Black Velvet", certainly one of the most beautiful dancefloor anthems of recent years, I daresay a perfect archetype for the genre; the vast difference with any single by a Minogue, Ellis-Bextor, and other similar divas is immediately perceived: here the sounds are pure, organic, powerful, an ascensional current with a very strong scenographic impact, without affectation and polish, crowned by Julie Messenger's splendid interpretation. Nothing is left to chance, each composition is a small piece of sonic architecture, changes in tempo and atmosphere are the order of the day, alongside the fast and circular rhythms of "We Belong" we find a solemn "Made Of Love", a hypnotic midtempo that distances itself from the predominantly futuristic atmospheres in "Twice In A Blue Moon" in favor of a more "sacred" approach, imbued with new age suggestions, while in "Feel You" a drier rhythm prevails, a robotic cadence softened by the sensual echo of Betsie Larkin's voice.

However, despite the perfect success and undeniable charm of these clear demonstrations of exquisite class, the soul of "Twice In A Blue Moon" lies in the remaining eight instrumentals, where Ferry Corsten can freely express his creative flair in compositions averaging 6/7 minutes that explore various moods and different styles. "Brain Box" starts quietly to gradually rise towards a spectacular trance/astral crescendo, an imprinting of journey and exploration that reaches its peak with the wonderful "Gabriella's Sky" which, alternating idyllic orchestrated sections and electronic accelerations on a rather simple melody in itself, aims to symbolize a path that, starting ideally from a dreamy contemplation, enthusiastically ventures into the discovery of the infinite firmament. "Life" and the title track "Twice In A Blue Moon", the former slower and more atmospheric, the latter relatively sparse and robotic, soar on the wings of restlessness, a void and a bewilderment well expressed by rhythmic paces and fragile and deliberately repetitive melodies, dark shadows balanced by the cosmic mantra of "Shanti", which gradually builds in intensity to finally exhaust in the brief outro "Visions Of Blue", a pleasant exit music that, with few and quiet piano notes, brings down the curtain on this intense and majestic spectacle of energy and sound games in freedom.

This work of Ferry Corsten is particularly recommended to enthusiasts and aesthetes, perfect for those seeking the pure pleasure of beautiful sound, without frills and accessory content. The imposing but slender and agile elegance of these compositions with a simple soul that develop harmoniously is something that does not leave one indifferent, transmitting an idea of "beauty" in a broad sense, just like admiring a fountain, a square, a statue, an architectural work in which one senses the hand of a creator with solid ideas and a sense of style. Spanning different atmospheres, with two almost antithetical peaks like "Black Velvet" and "Gabriella's Sky," "Twice In A Blue Moon" still manages to have a well-defined overall vision, conveying an overall sensation of tranquility, confidence, and satisfaction. Such is the work of a true artist, deserving further applause precisely for its inherently positive spirit: in an era where the ugly, the bad taste, the negativity, the flattening are continually highlighted, being able to appreciate the beauty even just the "external" of a work of art conceived as such is a synonym of proud overstatement.