Review of “Direct In” and the demo album

“Direct In” was released in 2006 and consists of three tracks, which may not sound so much, but they are in average over 15 minutes. The full album is around 50 minutes long.

The first track, ”Elephant”, is the longest and is an astonishing 20 minutes. The style is heavily experimental, compared to the other parts of the album. The beginning and the end of the track sounds more classically progressive with the middle adding more disharmonic elements. It didn‘t quite manage to create a theme throughout the song, probably it can be attributed to the fact that it‘s the first track and the band is warming up and synchronizing their creative efforts. You can hear at the end of ”Elephant” what seem to be the first creative sparks of ”Blues Machine”, which is the next track on the album.

“Blues Machine” is only 12 minutes but has a more constant musical theme throughout. It’s starting out slow and i feel some nostalgia rushing through my mind. There are elements of blues with some psychedelic coloring to it, in a fresh blend. The organ in the background reminds me of the very early progressive style. It’s a sound I have been looking for in rock for a long time and never found and I think Icons just brought it back. Organs must be one of the most forgotten and underrated instruments. About half-way the guitar play is getting more intense and they keep the intensity for a few more minutes, until they disassemble the composition quite peacefully. It’s an impressive composition and even more because it was improvised. This track is my absolute favourite and I have included a link to the MP3.

Icons – Blues Machine

The next part of said journey is “Thomas Dylan”, which jumps up to 17 minutes. It has a very laid-back feel to it in the beginning and the end. It borrows some sounds from early progressive albums and some Scandinavian melodic rock. There is a build-up to a more chaotic section in the middle. I can’t help but feel that I miss some sort of release and conclusion somewhere, though, which would balance the chaotic elements. Will there be a new album to reach that conclusion maybe?

Overall, the album is interesting, fresh and it has that good “progressive rock feel” to it, indeed they show they are a very promising band from the Italian scene! Wish there was more of it – after the last track you are still expecting another one. It’s also more surprising and unique than the demo album, which overall had a very distinct Floyd-sound to it, with much less experimental elements. In that perspective the band has definitely evolved and they have shown that the only way to go is their own way.

The demo album was released in 2004 and contains six tracks. Compared to the newer album this is a calmer, more soothing journey, with less surprises. It has a more familiar sound, less innovative and less experimental, but still very interesting. There are parts on the demo, for example the song “Dreamer”, where I can feel the band are showing they are capable of working very well with the guitar and the other layers of the sound landscape, to form dreamy, melancholic and expressive compositions and to make the different parts melt into a harmony. This shows the they have a wide artistic range and probably we will see more of that in the future.

M: What’s the background history of Icons?

G: Icons is a project that was founded in1998 by an idea of Giuseppe Salviati, to bring to light sounds and abandoned melodies, in contrast to modern commercial rock that uses only the fashions of the moment

Icons started off as a project to explore experimental and melodic sounds. To get to the current state they have had to invest many years and sacrifices since it was created by only two people. Giuseppe Salviati is on vocals, guitar, bass, drum machine and also composer and arranger of the songs and Gianluca Rea plays the keyboard. We also had to deal with the difficulty of complex compositions. Each song required at least 24 tracks each.

We completed the work in 2004 and we also got two additional band members – Gianfranco Spinuso on bass and Valerio De Falco on drums. Since then the band worked tirelessly to prepare the songs, while moving toward improvisation and experimentation both in the studio and live. After these experimental sessions the band decided it was time to drop some of the extreme material and produce a more finished product.

In 2006 the band released the album “Direct In”, which is less “rational” sounding. We listened to our gut instincts and gave ourselves the freedom to improvise. In fact, the album was recorded in one day without overdubbing or builders during the mixing but improvising. The end result would have a great impact on the future compositions by the band, very much because of the positive response from our fans. It didn’t go without problems, we were forced to change drummer several times and eventually we ran into the very promising young Enzo Pandolfi. He is still playing with us. Today the band is working on some new songs that go back to what you have heard on the previous albums but with a more progressive style.

M: What are your musical influences?

G: British progressive rock bands of the 70‘s including Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis, Queen and also some from the Italian landscape like Balleto Di Bronzo, Rovescio Della Medaglia, Osanna and Area.

M: Was there a particular feeling you were trying to capture on the demo album?

G: The album deals with several topics, some have very personal lyrics, as in I’m here again but other songs deal with issues of past and present history of modern man, for example war in Under the Sky, political corruption in My World and the holocaust in Alives…..themes already visited by many others but still valid because we have it in our conscience. Although I am proud of the final result, I am still very self-critical of this album. It would have been better if I could have shared my ideas with those who later joined the band, to get their suggestions to enrich the songs with their creativity. I’m sure the outcome would have been extraordinary, if we had done it today.

M: Do you have any other sources of inspiration for your music?

G: Surely – poetry, painting, sculpture and art cinema, after all we spend all our time in Italy, a country that gives so much from an artistic point of view but is disappointing when it comes to other things.

M: What are your plans for 2010?

G: We are working with other songs that we will produce in our personal recording studio, “EGS studio recording”. We have plans to release a new album at the end of 2010. We are also preparing to play soon at several Italian music festivals. When it comes to performing in the rest of Europe, we are doing everything to promote our band outside the Italian scene.