Sophia
It's Easy to be Lonely

LA RECENSIONE

"Well it’s easy to be lonely
And it’s easy to be sad
And it’s easy to let go
And it’s easy to be glad
Another chance to change is avoided
Decisions left unmade
We’re the sum of our choices
And mistakes that we make"

I had lost hope of hearing Robin again, my Robin.

Too many seven years of silence since the album There are no Goodbyes; an extended period of difficulties for the former leader of the God Machine. And not just for him.

Then comes the light, the glow, the purity. Robin returns on tiptoe as he has always done. Very little promotion for the new single that precedes the long-awaited return of Sophia, his second band, to the music scene. If memory serves, it's the early months of 2016, and it was the guy from Lecco, who knows the American singer-songwriter's artistic trajectory perfectly like I do, who posted the song on Debaser for the first time.

From the first listen, from the very first notes, that true spark of absolute love ignited once more; a love alive, never set aside, always ready to rise again. Just as it did in the early nineties with the God Machine and the two (universal) albums released by the original trio from San Diego that soon relocated to London.

That image dominating the single’s cover...those mountains unfamiliar to me...I don't know which place is depicted. But it doesn't matter because, as I’ve recalled time and time again, I adore immersing myself in the imposing solitude of my mountains; it’s so easy to feel alone while traversing paths, valleys. In the perpetual silence of these places, listening only to the sound of your steps…and your heart.

And finally, the Music arrives; five minutes of heartbreaking beauty.

Robin and his acoustic guitar; slender notes etched, painted, fragile.

Simplicity and delicacy embrace.

The voice also steps in, with the same innocence. Whispered words; a few phrases repeated, endlessly articulated; the song rises in intensity, grows. A piano, a clap of hands now accompany Robin. Black and white images flow like the notes of the song; we are near the end, we are close to the goal.

Spatial-temporal dilation...elevation; strings join in during the final seconds...very close to the virginity of the God Machine.

Ad Maiora.