The Left Outsides (UK)

The Left Outsides

 

“Are You Sure I Was There?”

 

Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube (LP)

 

Cosa c’è di meglio della bellezza per risplendere in musica? È l’incanto della folksong inglese che Alison Cotton (voce, harmonium, viola) e Mark Nicholas (voce, chitarra, basso, batteria) uniti nella vita artistica e coniugale, stanno rivitalizzando nel nome di The Left Outsides. Espressione moderna di folk rock psichedelico che si sviluppa da strumentazione acustica ed elettrica. L’uscita nel 2018 del quarto album “All That Remains” è stata la premessa di un intenso periodo creativo che li ha confermati tra i musicisti più ispirati della scena underground contemporanea con una serie di realizzazioni notevoli. Il live “A Place to Hide”, gemme sparse su 7″ più varie compilations e l’attività solista di Alison culminata con il suo secondo album “Only Darkness Now”, sono il risultato di questa recente discografia. Lavori che nascono in gran parte nella loro casa di Walthamstow a Londra, nello studio di registrazione domestico con la produzione di Mark da cui prendono forma idee, esperienze, visioni. Atmosfere caratterizzate da un intimismo poetico, un segreto narrare di spazi e tempi che i due musicisti rinnovano con il nuovo album in un suggestivo titolo: “Are You Sure I Was There?”.

Nel porre la questione The Left Outsides realizzano probabilmente il loro album più psichedelico lasciando tracce che si perdono in viaggi, sentimenti, presenze, assenze. Un nutrimento fatto di pensieri, ricordi e desideri che si tramuta in particelle di coscienza. Contempla la magia di luoghi nascosti nella natura sullo scorrere di voci e melodie avvolgenti. Canta lo svolgersi dell’autunno e attende l’inverno dove ‘As Night Falls’ e ‘The Wind No Longer Stirs the Trees’, già esposte in singolo, vengono rivisitate e offerte agli ascolti con magnificenza spaziale.  Ed il ciclo stagionale diventa impressione interiore con l’incedere chitarristico di ‘November on My Mind’ e nello svolgersi mesmerico di ‘Things Can Never Be the Same’. Quando il suono rivolge ad ovest coglie echi lontani dai perenni bagliori Clay Allison – Opal – Rainy Day di David Roback e Kendra Smith per offrire le meraviglie di ‘Only Time Will Tell’, ‘A Face in the Crowd’ e ‘Pictures of You’.

Folk e psichedelia proseguono in un dialogo trascendentale che non ha misura né densità come i corpi o le cose, ma si fa comunque materia elettrica in carica alla splendida Epiphone di Mark. Esserci senza esserci nelle sfumature crepuscolari di ‘Between the Lines’: “I don’t recognize the faces in the crowd. Are you sure I was there?”. Harmonium, viola e chitarra acustica sonorizzano dimensioni pastorali esposte anche in ‘The Stone Barn’ e trasmettono brividi sui solchi di ‘Séance’. “Hush, the veil is wavering, and I can hear a sound, keep hands on the table, for someone has appear”. Storia di una seduta spiritica ispirata ai racconti di fantasmi di Tom Cox “Help the Witch” contenuta anche sulla compilation “Help The Witch a Concept Album” ideata dall’autore ex critico musicale. Venature dark ambient e droni spettrali aleggiano intermittenti addensando perturbazioni in ‘My Reflection, Once Was Me’ (favolosa anche nella versione live su “A Place to Hide”) con Nico e “Desertshore” nel cuore.

“Are You Sure I Was There?” è passione, dolcezza, rivelazione, mistero. Musica creata per perdersi nella bellezza .

GIAMPIERO FLEBA

Una risposta a “The Left Outsides (UK)”

  1. English translation…

    The Left Outsides
    “Are You Sure I Was There?”
    Cardinal Fuzz / Feeding Tube (LP)

    What is better than beauty to shine in music? It is the enchantment of the English folksong that Alison Cotton (voice, harmonium, viola) and Mark Nicholas (voice, guitar, bass, drums), united in artistic and married life, are revitalizing in the name of The Left Outsides. Modern expression of psychedelic folk rock that develops from acoustic and electric instrumentation. The release in 2018 of the fourth album “All That Remains” was the premise of an intense creative period that confirmed them among the most inspired musicians of the contemporary underground scene with a series of remarkable releases. The live “A Place to Hide”, various gems distributed on 7″ and compilations plus Alison’s solo activity culminating with her second album “Only Darkness Now” are the result of this recent discography. Works that are born largely in their home with the production of Mark, the home recording studio in London from which ideas, experiences, visions take shape. Atmospheres characterized by a poetic intimacy, a secret narration of spaces and times that the two musicians renew with the new album in a suggestive title: “Are You Sure I Was There?”.

    In asking the question The Left Outsides realise probably their most psychedelic album, leaving traces that are lost in travels, feelings, presences, absences. A nourishment made up of thoughts, memories and desires that turns into particles of consciousness. Contemplate the magic of places hidden in nature on the flow of enchantig voices and melodies. Sing the unfolding of autumn and awaits winter where ‘As Night Falls’ and ‘The Wind No Longer Stirs the Trees’, already exhibited in a 7inch, are revisited and offered to listens with spatial magnificence. And the seasonal cycle becomes an inner impression with the guitar progressions of ‘November on My Mind’ and the mesmeric unfolding of ‘Things Can Never Be the Same’. When the sound turns west it captures distant echoes from the perennial Clay Allison – Opal – Rainy Day’s glows by David Roback and Kendra Smith to deliver the wonders of ‘Only Time Will Tell’, ‘A Face in the Crowd’ and ‘Pictures of You’

    Folk and psychedelia continue in a transcendental dialogue that has no measure or density like bodies or things, but still becomes electric matter from the Mark’s splendid Epiphone. Being there without being there in the crepuscular shades of ‘Between the Lines’: “I don’t recognize the faces in the crowd. Are you sure I was there?”. Harmonium, viola and acoustic guitar generate pastoral dimensions also exhibited in ‘The Stone Barn’ and transmit shivers on the grooves of ‘Séance’. “Hush, the veil is wavering, and I can hear a sound, keep hands on the table, for someone has appear”. Song inspired by Tom Cox’s ghost stories “Help the Witch” also included in the compilation “Help The Witch a Concept Album” created by the author former music critic. Dark ambient touches and ghostly drones hover intermittently to thicken in ‘My Reflection, Once Was Me’ (also fabulous in the live version on “A Place to Hide”) with Nico and “Desertshore” in the heart.

    “Are You Sure I Was There?” is passion, sweetness, revelation, mystery. Music created to get lost in beauty.

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