Import CD – AU9057 – Smut! Clock! Spot! – Foursome

Notes

Variable shapes and a constant ability to synthetize in Foursome second album “Smut! Clock! Spot!” out now under Auand Records
Different paths to explore and a collective development at the core of the quartet’s new work, featuring Giulio Stermieri (Hammond), Simone Copellini (trumpet), Federico Pierantoni (trombone) and Riccardo Frisari (drums).

Relying on different experiences to serve a unique sound synthesis, Foursome second album is a prism with brilliant and surprising facets, its reflections expanding in all directions. The quartet finds Giulio Stermieri on Hammond, Simone Copellini on trumpet, Federico Pierantoni on trombone and Riccardo Frisari on drums. After debuting with Guuguubarra and working together for 3 years, the band is now releasing the new Smut! Clock! Spot!, which also marks their first experience under Auand Records.

As a result of a reflection on both sound and form, this album finds its own strength in every members’ contribution. Each of them has a specific background: while the drummer comes from alt-rock and folk, the other musicians took their first steps in jazz. Stermieri has combined all these elements while composing his tracks (later transformed in the recording sessions) in a true collective development.

The dark wavelets in the opening track, “Adormaus”, are like a stream of cold water: they immediately open your eyes up on the borderline sounds the band explores scrupulously. The brass section starts an overlapping dialogue, while the rest of the band shapes a darker and alienating soundscape.

More lyrical, yet with a penchant for some healthy confusion, is “Schliesse mir die Augen Beide”, the band’s version of one of Berg’s lied, conceived when the album was in its first phase: «I really liked the idea of working with a voice – Stermieri says – and Italian singer Gaia Mattiuzzi was by far the most suitable name for a borderline ground as this one».

Among waves of sound crossing the tunes, choral explorations (“Dro”, enriched by Cristiano Arcelli on sax) and digressions in contemporary music (“Lood”), this has been a compelling work even in the recording sessions: «Having the chance to record on tape – the pianist adds – led us to stepping into the studio with the idea of playing only a few takes for each piece. Besides the cut on session hours, I believe it also results in fresher ideas, especially when improvising».