The Album Leaf
Into The Blue Again

Scene 1st, 7 days ago-> I just entered my trusted music store in search of "rock thrills" when the guys behind the counter unwrap and insert a brand new CD into the player, which arrived that day with the latest weekly delivery of new releases. It takes me exactly 4 minutes and 29 seconds, the duration of the first track, to fall in love with it and want it with all my might and all my pockets, forgetting which other artist I was there for at that moment. After 10 minutes, I leave with the new CD in my bag.

Scene 2nd, exactly now-> after constant and prolonged listening of the new purchase during various moments of the day: at home, during my commuter travels, and in the office, I decide to review it while accumulating ideas or rather sensations that I will put on paper now and online later. The moment is now, right now on bus line 50 with a pencil and a paper sheet salvaged from today's mail printout, because I can't wait any longer and I must write it down because it wants to come out of me.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, here is a CD to listen to while someone for instance strokes your head, maybe sitting on a wide and thick carpet in front of a lit fireplace, not because there is a need for warmth, as this is a CD produced among Icelandic ice, but just to enjoy the reassuring crackling of the fire, which should merge with the music. And merge is truly the best verb to choose when trying to explain the sensations derived from listening to this third CD (excluding The Seal Beach Ep of 2005) from what mistakenly appears to me as a "new band". But who is this band and where have they been hiding all this time during which I wasn't aware of them? Meanwhile, I already think I have to learn about their history and possible previous works.

First of all, I discover that the project is the brainchild of a single person, and I already like this, an American who, entirely independently, writes lyrics, music, and arrangements, sings and plays them himself, occasionally asking 2 or 3 trusted external collaborators for help to add violins and violas and effects where he has already created a soundscape made of rhodes piano, acoustic and electric guitars (very few of these), bass, synth, drum machine, organ, and various percussions; a man who with an apparently feeble tone, stitches double vocals on poetic verses that immediately reach the soul, sketching sweet and dreamlike visions of moving foliage, leaves in the wind in autumn twilight landscapes in which I imagine the stirring of long locks that hide features from others' gaze.

These compositions are little gems, hypothetical soundtracks of precious moments of everyone, either past or to be passed alone, absorbed in one's own thoughts or in sweet company, in any case in a climate of serenity that can be breathed in and at peace with oneself. And the main characteristic that immediately stands out is the absolute simplicity, or rather the total lack of pretentiousness of the same; yet they are wonderful, sublime (WISHFUL THINKING).

The influences, contaminations, and similarities that immediately come to mind are Ambient, Sigur Ros (naturally, since they unearthed them, materially contributing to the protagonist's coming out and debut), the cultured instrumental of the German Couch, the piano sweetness of Sebastien Tellier, the Indie of Mogwai, the more accessible melodies of Tarwater passing even through a happy easy-pop in the only 3 real songs, fresh and immediately hummable, like ALWAYS FOR YOU in which a few simple phrases genuinely leave a deep mark (And all the things I tried to say were never easy to explain they were always meant for you).

Delicate yet strongly evocative, the album that this Leaf stirs is already dense with beautiful memories, despite me having just begun to leaf through it.