Track By Track: L.U.C.A. – I Semi Del Futuro
Edizioni Mondo is the record label operated by Gerd Janson and Francesco De Bellis. Inspired by library music and named after "MONDO MOVIES", an italian movie genre born in the 60's, the label offers a very different musical outlet for Gerd Janson and is removed from the club orientated by which he is most commonly associated and bound. However, this release comes not from Gerd Janson but from the second brain behind the vision…
L.U.C.A. is the artistic project of musician Francesco De Bellis. It is a reflective LP which acts as the accompanying soundtrack to many an event of his own past, as well as his close friend Luca's. The album is to be representative of days where he would build a playlist for a long car journey or other timely event in which they would listen to each track without skipping. From start to finish, with no pauses: it is to be heard as a series, each track with its own place and position. We caught up with Francesco to talk about his latest release as he guides us through the album. Read below:
"Thematically speaking, the driving concept behind the album is the birth of life on earth. It’s a free representation of physicals phenomenas and manifestations, a personal vision, rather than a scientific description."
In Principio
In this track you could hear a voice narrating wild scenarios. Mountains are rising, shaking and breaking the ground, lava is flowing down the new born hills, planes are being overflown by the magmatic mass. Salvation is offered by the water, being the flood the only way to overpower the flames and restore the equilibrium. It’s a violent but necessary process, it’s dualism of fire and water, destruction as the only mean to create a new state. A violent clash of two immense forces that will result in the birth of a new life.
Il Valzer del risveglio
This translates to “ awakening valzer” and, in an ideal “creation time line”, would be placed in the aftermath of the destructions and mutations that occurred in the first track.
Finally, after the extreme devastation, it’ s peaceful again. Life begins to blossom, Nature is alive and imposing its presence, regaining posses of the land. Everything is green and cheerful, it’s the first phase of a natural celebration, a waltz ( dance) of the Nature and its creations.
Sirene
According to Homer’s Odyssey, on it’s travel back to Ithaca, Ulysses and his sailors met the powerful maga Circe in a place that it’s now known as Circeo, on Lazio’s shores. If you followed Edizioni Mondo you should recognize it as the place that inspired the label.
Among the perils that are waiting for them, sirens are the first. According to greek mythology, their enchanting voices caused ships to crash on the reefs. Circe warns Ulisse of the danger and reveals that, to avoid the Sirens’ deadly call, ears must be plugged with beeswax. Curious to hear the Sirens’ song, he refuses to cover his ears and orders his crew to tie him firmly to the mast and to proceed with the navigation. Thanks to Circe’s advice, they finally escape the menace. As in Ulysses’ case, there’s a soft voice whispering in the background of the track “vicino,vicino, vicino” …near, near, near…
Nuovo Ordine..Equilibrio
Now that a new order is established, there is a complete harmony between elements. Children are laughing and birds from the trees welcome Sping’s arrival.
Anni Verdi
Years ago Valerio and Luciano Raimondi (aka Odeon) came to me with the guitar and bass lines of this track, thinking that could be perfect for L.U.C.A. I arranged it taking inspiration from Italian 70’s OST and choose a title that could fit the narrative of the project. Anni Verdi represents Spring’s culmination ceremony.
In the Sun
I think it was around summer of 2008 when me and Carlo Alberto Dall’Amico drove to my house at Circeo, car packed of instruments, looking to composing music mainly inspired by the Sun. Everyday I would go to the sea and immerge in the water when the sun was setting down. It took ten sunsets before I could finally sense the right mood had come. Only then we started playing. We went back to the house and wrote song and lyrics and then Luciano Raimondi sang on it.
Esodo
Esodo has indeed a bit of a cinematic feel and Clint Mansell’s beautiful Moon’s soundtrack is the reason behind it. I made this track after I saw the movie, influenced by the endless cosmic landscapes. I kept the “desert” element, but where his atmospheres are more lunar, mine ended up being more terrestrial and mystical and, in my mind, evocative of departure.
Niagara
This track encapsulates the “new hippy” vibe and is strongly influenced by 60’s and 70’s soundtracks and american psychedelia. Also I had in mind the green, luxuriant landscapes
that are typical of waterfalls, hence the title reffering to one of the most famous.
Oggi domani sempre
The title basically translates to “today, tomorrow, always” and it was made during one night with Valerio Raimondi. It’s pretty much a jam session, recorded in 4 hours and deliberately lo-fi.
Plancton
Plancton is the last track that I made and through it we enter the final chapter. Water is the element from witch everything origined. Other than being a crucial source of food for many aquatic organisms, therefore playing an important role in the ecosystem, plancton was a key factor in the emergence of more complex forms of life, producing oxygen. Without its action, humans would never have seen the light of day.
Buy the release HERE.
