Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

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

Reviews

Lunophone — Surroundings
(Bandcamp no#, 2024, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2024-07-13

Surroundings Cover art

James Strain of Rascal Reporters worked with Homunculus Res on their two most recent albums — Andiamo in Giro di Notte e Ci Consumiamo nel Fuoco (2020) and Ecco l'Impero dei Doppi Sensi (2023) — and it seems that Strain got on well enough with multi-instrumentalist Dario D'Alessandro to form the duo called Lunophone. Surroundings is their first release, and it’s fun romp through various Canterbury and Canterbury-adjacent sounds. With Strain on bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, oud, and assorted other instruments, and D’Alessandro on vocals, keyboards, guitar, and percussion, the duo presents a very full sound. The 12 tracks are mostly in the two-to-four minute range, but they’re complex enough that a lot of ground is covered, with arrangements that wind along twisted paths with unexpected diversions. Many of the melodies are carried by D’Alessandro’s wordless vocalizing, usually “Ba-ba-ba,” which brings to mind sappy easy-listening music from the 60s and 70s, though in this context it has a very different impact — after all, Richard Sinclair did some of the same thing with Caravan and Hatfield and the North. Several tracks have lyrics in Italian, and I’m not sure what language “Dalbhdha” uses — the title seems to be Arabic for “Delicious,” but I can’t make out any words in the dense mix, so it could be gibberish. Speaking of “Dalbhdha,” it’s one of the most fascinating tracks on the album, with odd rhythmic structures, gritty fuzz bass, a recurring theme on gamelan, and prominent use of both oud and sitar. “René Magritte” is another standout track, with varying sections and a particularly energetic climax. Many parts will remind a listener of a noisier version of Hatfield and the North or a variation on Homunculus Res, but Lunophone is definitely their own band, and Surroundings is one of the highlights of the year so far.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Lunophone

More info
http://lunophone.bandcamp.com/album/surroundings

 

What's new

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