The Dust
Cinema Retrò

Sometimes it is the music that seeks us out, flushing us out from the nooks where we have hidden ourselves. That's what happened to me when, by a strange twist of fate, I found this album in my hands. And it is even more surprising considering that just at the moment of my closest approach to progressive and psychedelic music, I received a glam rock-hard blues CD. But perhaps calling it just glam really makes little sense because the CD in question has many tricks up its sleeve. And finally, it is quite remarkable to think that in Italy there are people capable of combining and expressing what Bowie, Rolling Stones, Beatles, Queen, and so on have done, better than more prestigious and certainly wealthier groups coming from the lands of Avalon.

So ladies and gentlemen, here are The Dust, a blend of English rock origin directly from the fabulous '70s projected with perfectionism and taste right into our days as if, by magic, the Enterprise's teleportation had created a space-time continuum between yesterday and today.
Born in the Treviso lands, this group has undergone a series of lineup changes so much so that from as far back as 1995 to today, their production consists of only two demos and a self-produced album, the one I am about to review, which should have been commercialized by Videoradio and which then, due to a series of vicissitudes, has remained awaiting a serious record label.

Let's now try to immerse ourselves in the atmospheres of Cinema Retrò, a fascinating album with so much, so much meat on the fire. Pressing the play button, you are immersed in a "dusty" room where a probable writer presses the keys of his old typewriter, inviting us to sit comfortably in an armchair to listen to the story he is about to tell us. And it is on the rhythm of these keys that a psychedelic soundscape in the style of Pink Floyd, performed by synths, is triggered, exploding in the first track of this album, "Rocketman", a tribute to that well-known Freddie Mercury. Compared to the premises (the excellent initial soundscape), however, this piece somewhat fails to meet expectations, very easy and not particularly successful, it takes refuge in a well-crafted but not very convincing pop. It continues with "The Sand Are Running Out", a decidedly country-rock-beatlesque-eagle piece... I don't know if I make myself clear! A beautiful mixture of pop and country that would fit well on a Beatles or Lyle Lovett record. A very tasty and refined piece. The album definitely rises in intensity and initiates an atmospheric-psychedelic backdrop courtesy of the good Andrea Salvador on bass, giving life to the splendid "Switched Off" which, in the opinion of the writer, is one of the gems of the album. The latter piece is decidedly rock with harmonics exploding everywhere and a tail that closely resembles the best findings of the now forgotten Kula Shaker... definitely beautiful, a real gem! It continues with "Foolife", Beatles-like on ragga rhythms that the good Luca Somera on drums dispenses with generosity. This piece is very easy-listening, but definitely captivating. It's time for "My Love", a very sweet and beautiful ballad that closely resembles some themes of the more pop Rufus Wainwright... pure honey dribbling with parsimony and musical wisdom. Another little gem of the album! The voice of the chameleon Roberto Grillo now turns into a caress and then into a scream à la Robert Plant. It continues with "Another Situation", a rock piece that could, by taste, be part of Roger Waters' "Radio Chaos" (the most commercial album by the former Pink Floyd with a very interesting concept). The album is now ready for the second major stylistic-creative surge, initiating the wonderful "Sammy and Jenny" which continues and evolves without interruptions into the splendid "Never Stopping" where the Zeppelin vein unleashes with all its power in Andrea Gottardi's wonderful guitar, in the splendid syncopations, and in the beautiful voice of Roberto Grillo, who now more than ever resembles the myth Plant. A slight hint of a drum solo and then off to the free guitar outburst, emphasized accents on the cymbals, and hard blues very much in abundance. "It's You" continues with a homage to the Zeppelins in the verse, while the chorus and continuation of the track are decidedly a very lyrical and evocative blues... dreamy in its choirs and guitar solos. Once again, the scene is dominated by the voice of Roberto Grillo and the guitar of Andrea Gottardi. At about four minutes, however, the piece undergoes a transformation moving between the beat and the funky à la James Taylor. These guys really have a strong desire to play and amaze, and you can feel it! The album closes with the splendid "Know How You're Feeling" which is an effective fusion of hard blues and jazz, very passionate and seductive as only the fusion of these two genres can be. But the surprises are not over, because the track dives into a samba and a Latin-American rhythm that shakes you from the armchair, highlighting the rhythm section of the Treviso formation. The track closes, resuming the blues-jazz atmospheres with which it started. And so the album bids farewell, our writer writes the last words and the machine rings the bell indicating the carriage return. Metaphoric sound, this one, of the "to be continued" of American movies, leaving one to hopefully glimpse the possibility that this group may continue to produce good music.

In conclusion, this album by this emerging band is pure musical taste. It is not innovative, but evocative; it is not technical, but passionate. It is everything the record market wants to hide to continue commercializing its unemotional and unimaginative products. The "The Dust" has a communicative sound desire that places them not too far from the groups that preceded them and perhaps makes them more real and genuine. The album is frankly beautiful and deserves to be purchased. A provocation, however, I must make. I understand the need to revive the glories of the '70s English music, which leads to the desire to sing in English, but why not try to sing in our language songs that, thus, would have been accessible to the majority? Now, don't remove "the dust" from the shelves of your musical heart, leave it there as a reminder of how precious the teachings of the past are... only from them can a wonderful future come. A little Italian gem that is all to be listened to!