Lotus
Nessuno è innocente

For me, Italian rock always holds wonderful surprises. This year, there have been few... there’s a record I find difficult to eject from the player: the CD from the Italian project Lotus, Nessuno è Innocente. Do you know it? The single "Io Sono Il Re" may have piqued the curiosity of fans of Afterhours-like sounds, but others have probably abstained from exploring this album. A mistake.

This album indeed has some similarities with Afterhours, although the mind behind the Lotus project, Amerigo Verardi from Brindisi, is absolutely no stranger to a certain type of sonic experimentation. His over ten-year career is remarkable: founder of the cult bands Allison Run and Betty's Blues, and a collaborator with Sonica, Baustelle, Valentina Gravili, Virginiana Miller, Lula – seven entities with marked musical originality. Verardi is a brilliant and kaleidoscopic character, unique in the Italian indie scene.

For Nessuno è Innocente, friends were called in: Silvio Triscuzzi on bass and Claudio Chiari on drums, and then Federico Fiumani, Manuel Agnelli, Giovanni del Casale, Alessandro Palazzo, and other note alchemists from the alternative circuit.

With this album, we are faced with psychedelic rock, varied and intriguing, bright and enveloping. You can discover the lysergic Lennon-esque melodies of the post-Beatles era in the tracks "Trasparenti Ma Non Liberi" and "Lazy Jane." Or sounds and texts from twisted, skew, and melancholic pop are present overwhelmingly in "Qualità," "Un’Estate In Clinica," and "Testacoda." Indie-rock à la Garbage in the already mentioned "Io Sono Il Re" and "Ricchi e Poveri," bittersweet softness in the song "Sushi," emotional lyrics and guitars in "Squalo," and La Crus-style coolness in "Nessuno è Innocente."

An album that is sweet, dense, extraordinary, illuminating. A treasure chest full of sparkling jewels. To be discovered.