Nosound: Scintilla (2016) [Blu-ray]

Nosound’s new studio album, their fifth, entitled Scintilla marks a major departure and includes guest appearances from Anathema’s Vincent Cavanagh and acclaimed Italian singer Andrea Chimenti.

After a decade of crafting a very particular type of widescreen melancholia and wistful imagery, Nosound’s fifth studio album Scintilla introduces a wholly new musical and visual approach for Giancarlo Erra’s ever-evolving band.

Inspired by personal upheaval and a desire for change, Scintilla is an emotionally complex and musically direct work presenting a stripped-down set of compositions that mark a major departure from Nosound’s trademark symphonic lushness and production precision. Giancarlo Erra says “The intention with Scintilla was to do something a bit more different than previously and illustrating more vigorously what Nosound is today. During a decade of activity, my listening tastes have shifted gradually towards a simpler, more direct music with an intimate character that still retains a certain richness and detail in sound. Northern folk and alt singer-songwriter music are possibly the stronger influences, but generally speaking, everything that is simple, direct and minimal but with rich sound is what I like, and what I hope this album is.”

Taking in influences from Post Rock, Shoegaze and Alt-Singer-Songwriters, the album imaginatively utilises a mostly organic and acoustic sound palette.

Musically looser and more sonically intimate than the band’s previous releases, Scintilla’s emphasis is placed firmly on feeling rather than technique.

Anathema’s Vincent Cavanagh lends his distinctive vocals to two of the album’s tracks – ‘In Celebration of Life’ and ‘The Perfect Wife’, and cellist Marianne De Chastelaine returns once more to the Nosound fold (this time in a more free-flowing and improvisational capacity). Acclaimed Italian singer Andrea Chimenti co-writes and sings on the serene ‘Sogno E Incendio’.

Shifting from the uncharacteristic sarcasm of ‘Love is Forever’ and potent anger of ‘The Perfect Wife’ to the dreamy sensitivity of ‘Emily’ and the unusually uplifting ‘Celebration of Life’, Scintilla represents the boldest statement of Nosound’s career so far.

A cathartic album of emotional extremes, Scintilla marks the brave beginning of the second phase of Nosound’s fascinating career.

Треклист:
01. Short Story
02. Last Lunch
03. Little Man
04. In Celebration Of Life
05. Sogno E Incendio
06. Emily
07. The Perfect Wife
08. Love Is Forever
09. Evil Smile
10. Scintilla