It’s pretty unusual for an album to stand out as being genuinely different, and even more so if it’s not some far-out experimental work that challenges the very idea of what constitutes music. Such recordings may stand out, and be admirable for their achievements sonically and experimentally, but don’t necessarily make for engaging listening. With ‘Fenice’, Italian quartet Ronin achieve that rare thing: a sound that’s unique yet eminently listenable.
Combining soaring post-rock with hints of country and psychedelia, the opening trio of tracks are rich and evocative, with ‘Spade’ setting the scene before ‘Benevento’ offers up some nice chugging riffery and delicate lead guitar work over a strolling bassline to create instrumental road trippin’ music par excellence. ‘Selce’ takes things down and weaves a mesmerizingly tranquil atmosphere. It’s on the quieter tracks such as this and the title track that Ronin are at their most distinctive, using chord progressions uncommon to Western rock music overlaid with magnificently arranged orchestration that tugs at the heartstrings.
|
Things go a bit ‘Apache’ on ‘Jambiya’, which boasts rolling rhythms and reverbed twang, with simmering strings and busy piano in the mix to enhance the effect.
‘It Was a Very Good Year’ is a particular standout, with a haunting vocal performance from Emma Tricca bringing another dimension to the sparse instrumentation. In contrast, the jazz-flavoured doodling of ‘Gentlemen Only’ sounds a bit naff, but one dud’s forgivable, especially as it’s more than compensated by the expansively meandering ‘Nord’ and the closing track, ‘Conjure Men’ brings jazzy brass and a Latin swing together to forge a chilled groove with surprising success.
Ronin on MySpace
|
