Max Navarro
No Belonging After Dark

"No Belonging After Dark" represents Max Navarro's rock turn. After the successful (though for purists perhaps a bit too polished) debut three years ago with "Branded On My Skin," the Italian-Canadian artist returns to the scene with this new album, straddling an EP and a full album. Six tracks plus an intro to be listened to in one breath, immediately convincing for their rock solidity and compactness. It might still be a bit early to speak of full artistic maturity, but certainly, this new chapter in Navarro’s musical journey represents a significant step forward compared to previous works.

In particular, the album showcases an excellent creative streak in songwriting, combined with very apt and well-crafted choices in arrangement. The beauty of Max Navarro's turn lies in the choice of sounds given to the songs, quite distant from the pop/rock of "Branded On My Skin," strongly imbued with a gritty guitar backdrop. The guitar is indeed the leading instrument of this album, with John Paul Bellucci in absolute grace, capable of delivering gripping solos on almost all the songs of the album (especially see Get Away, Stardust, and the acoustic closer Out In The Midnight).

The record starts with the surreal intro "Wakeland In The Dark" that feels straight out of a Hitchcock film: on a bass carpet, André Morin's unsettling violin installs itself, raging for almost a minute, raising more than a doubt about the real intentions of the Italian-Canadian rocker. Then, suddenly, comes the roaring riff of "Get Away," the second extract from the album, a hammering scream of freedom culminating in Bellucci's solo. Following Get Away is "Wish", Navarro's true flagship, presented here in a different version from the one published in 2005 in the EP "Parallel Lines." If possible, the new version is even more convincing than the first, thanks to a riff clearly inspired by Dire Straits.

Then we move to "Torquemada," a rock ballad in full '70s style that tells of how hard life is for a musician amid the most sordid commercial plots. Then it's the turn of "Stardust," entirely written by Navarro's right-hand man, and producer, Nick Mayer, contributing to the album's vitality with a piece balancing between rock and shuffle.

Echoes of the old Navarro are found instead in "Turn Back Time," a light and catchy ballad that doesn’t clash with the rest but instead eases the transition to what I think is the real gem of the album: "Out In The Midnight." The song is presented in acoustic version directly from last summer's Live in Dublin and showcases a very different Navarro from what we are used to hearing. Perfectly arranged, "Out In The Midnight" is an enthralling interplay of three guitars worthy of the best Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, which immediately catapults us into years when real rock still mattered and of which Max Navarro is now one of the most interesting heirs.