Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Fabio Zuffanti — Hjarta
(Bandcamp no#, 2024, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-02-07

Hjarta Cover art

For anyone who has followed the Italian progressive rock scene since the 90s, Fabio Zuffanti should be a well-known figure, initially as the bassist of Finisterre, then later as their principal songwriter, then with his own group La Maschera di Cera, then as the Finisterre Project, which quickly became Hostsonaten. Along that journey he worked with numerous other bands and projects, sometimes as an instrumentalist, other times as a producer. In 2009 Zuffanti released his eponymous solo debut, followed by nearly a dozen solo endeavors as of this writing, while his continued involvement with other recording artists hasn’t subsided. Hjarta, the Icelandic word for Heart, is his latest album, a ‘winter music’ recording featuring six tracks of various lengths and styles which was released (so far…) as a download-only from Zuffanti’s Bandcamp site (link below) released on the occasion of the winter solstice on December 21st, 2024. While the six tracks are predominantly instrumental, there are vocals here and there on every track, produced and played by Zuffanti, engineer / guitarist Matteo Ricci (of Malombra), and keyboardist and Maschera alum Agostino Macor; between the three of them, they play everything you hear. The opener, “A Different House,” opens gently, with some keys and electronics joining in shortly after; by two minutes in one could say it’s approaching full-on symphonic rock with vocals and Mellotron (or a reasonable facsimile thereof) followed by a fade-down after five minutes. “Neve all'alba” follows, one of two cuts on the album that break the ten minute barrier, a piece that could be described as a bit downtempo, but the vocals and harmonies tend to keep it out of full-on shoegaze territory. It does convey the feeling of winter, and again there are gobs of ‘Tron, the essential instrument of progressive rock. The guitar is there, everywhere, but it just sort of shimmers behind the overall production. The next two pieces, “Pozzo della notte” and “Morire di pioggia,” both are different but share something of a late 70s Pink Floyd feel. It’s the title track closes the proceedings, a beautiful, dreamy slice of psychedelic ‘Tron-shimmer that carries on for close to eleven minutes, with some wordless voices scattered in the background — it is by far the strongest cut of the bunch. 

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Fabio Zuffanti / ZBand

More info
http://fabiozuffanti.bandcamp.com/album/fabio-zuffanti-hjarta-2024

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.