Juri Camisasca
Spirituality

Seventeen years. That's how long had passed between La finestra dentro and Il carmelo di Echt. After Arcano Enigma from 1999, 2016 is the year of Juri Camisasca's return to the discography, the monk-hermit friend of Franco Battiato.

This time it's a project for two, with musician Rosario Di Bella. The result is Spirituality, 14 tracks revolving around the theme of Catholic and non-Catholic spirituality. And perhaps it's no coincidence that the title was chosen in English, to make it a universal discourse.

It begins with Pace, a hymn to this that also mentions the grass should it escape the concrete.

Then there’s the ode to the archangel Gabriel, and in some tracks, Juri sings together with Rosario.

Il canto della beatitudine is one of the most intense, listen to believe. More transitional, however, is Deus Meus, entirely in Latin. Se incontri il Buddha... seems to be an attempt by man to free himself from the dogmas of religion, or to follow Catholicism instead of Buddha and the gods. Cogli l'essenza is truly beautiful, and invites you to grasp this and not the appearance. After Gabriel, there is also a track for the archangel Uriel, from the Jewish tradition. Space and Flowers is sung entirely in English with a text always of a religious nature. Echoes of Battiato from I'm that. Suprema identità is a supreme song introduced by a soft piano... "we chase our illusions, roses and thorns of a reality that slips through our hands... rays of truth". This also makes you think of Battiato from the 1991-93 period. Then comes Il mondo è costruito sull'amore, opened by piano scales... rain as a divine sign and “loving glances”... Here there's less pessimism and more invocation. There’s also a happy recovery, Il sole nella pioggia, written for Alice in 1989. Intense interpretation. La luce dell'India is a deep reflection on meaning, between looking at the sun in the morning and climbing Indian mountains.

The title song is a good seven minutes and thirty-eight seconds long, and it is the only instrumental one. As if no text could convey the intensity of the spirituality, precisely. Around the 3:40 mark, there are vocalizations, but no lyrics. Then there is a percussive part before the fifth minute, which becomes increasingly obsessive. Finale with organ. The last track is instead the shortest, one minute and five seconds, and is nothing more than a hint of the Hebrew Ave Maria, Shlom Lekh Mariam.

The return of good Juri to the record market was needed, especially when by market we mean communicating something profound rather than in a rewarding sense. Rating: 4 stars.

Curiously, from 2016 to today, Juri has released three studio albums and two live ones. More than he had released in his previous career.