Moltheni
Splendore terrore

The cover of this third work by the singer-songwriter from Marche is already a whole program! It's brilliant, it's crazy... a bell? And what does it mean? Absolutely nothing! That's the beauty of it, the cover reveals nothing about the content of the album, in fact, I'm even led to think it discourages purchase. Yes indeed, the great UMBERTO GIARDINI (MOLTHENI) is back and does so in complete silence, without any pretense, without any beating around the bush... Acoustic guitars, Wurlitzer, drums, and a few (but just a few) electric guitar touches to envelop in further poetry the "amoris carmina" of a character too underrated, too misjudged by critics and the public.
And what on earth does Mr. Umberto do that's so wrong? Does he kill? Steal? Insult? None of that! Moltheni is happy, he is serene, and his records are probably the other side of his normal life... the anguish takes over, the open string chords vibrate with infinite sustain, and poetry finally realizes, knows its ideal form!

The title "splendore terrore", like the cover, has no precise meaning... it is pure, free association of sounds, just as pure and free from any market logic is this record product made in a week. The first track "Gli occhi di Mara Cagol" immediately sets the right spirit of the album. A somewhat saturated Wurlitzer that praises pure minimalism, which is poetry compared to the poor literature recently proposed on the radio... the lyrics of the rest of the songs are equally minimal, few words... repeated several times... hypnotic if sung by a warm and rough voice like that of Moltheni. In the second track ("Splendore terrore") there is at one point a chilling electric guitar graft, and it took me just a moment to realize that I was in front of the album of the year!!! The listening proceeds enraptured by the warmth of the acoustic guitar and the lilting melodies of the artist from Marche, yet not one of these tracks annoys me, none! Of course, you have to be predisposed to a certain type of atmosphere to proceed with "Finta gioia" listening, but I have never felt so "happily" anguished as at this moment! There are no colorful notes, there is a constant black and white and the cold of January as a backdrop... The last track "Suprema": piano and voice and Moltheni trying to convince me that "a new world will be born, kind and imperfect but immune to everything".
That's it, the album is over... Moltheni has given me 43 minutes of quiet and extreme beauty... fortunately Umberto is back, thank you...