Loyal readers of this blog, you have a sneak peek at the presentation and review of an album being released today. Isn’t that great!
Why isn’t this album called Fistful of Planets 3? After all, it’s still Elisa Montaldo solo. There are even some themes reprised from Fistful of Planets 1 and 2, so there you have it!
Well, the title of this fourth album, “Looking Back Moving Forward,” provides the key to this enigma: looking back, moving forward.
Behind it all, there are Fistful of Planets 1 (2015) and Fistful of Planets 2 (2021), but also, of course, Dévoiler (2020). Three albums in ten years, a decade, a complete cycle in a way. But above all, a period during which Elisa, the artist but also the woman, has progressed on her own life journey.
Ten years after Fistful of Planets 1, she felt it was time to move forward. Of course, this crucial step wasn’t decided in a single moment. Doubt, hesitation, sometimes even a loss of bearings, are all part of a natural journey to reach a lost, perhaps even unknown, serenity, and to finally perceive clearly the light of a new dawn. That new day has arrived.
Next, you have to decode it. Because Elisa always works in her own very personal way, with subtle touches. These fourteen musical vignettes are like emotional markers which, once listened to and re-listened to, represent a multifaceted mirror. You can move around, change your angle of perception, and thus discern fluctuating waves and shifting reflections. This is a disturbing impression pushed to its extreme with the six instrumental capsules that make up the suite “The Dreamcore Bubble.”
So, I know, you’re going to tell me I don’t talk much about music in this review. Think again. Music is about emotions, sensations, vibrations. It’s up to you to discover this album, which will resonate with your own sensibilities. This is surely why I’m so personally moved by “You’re with me” and “Al di là delle idee.”
But since I’m feeling generous, I suggest we focus on two exceptional pieces that you should listen to first. First, the magnificent secular motet “Alone or not,” a veritable vocal cathedral formed by Elisa’s moving voice, joined by the choirs provided by Francesco Ciapica, recorded on no fewer than sixteen tracks for a result that is simply gorgeous. Then came the song “Looking back – Moving Forward” with the duo Elisa Montaldo – Barbara Rubin (and with Francesco Ciapica once again joining in) at the pinnacle of what can be done in terms of sensitivity.
I hope I have made you want to buy and listen to this album, so don’t miss this opportunity that Elisa is offering you.
(Louis De Ny – https://rockprogressifitalien.blogspot.com/)
tracklist :
1 – Raining solitude
2 – Still Floating / we didn’t waste time
3 – Alone or not (modern vampire)
4 – The Bunyan Effect
5 – You’re with me
6 – Al di là delle idee
7 – Northern Woods
“The Dreamcore bubble” (8 à 13)
8 – Out of the cold white desert
9 – 1941 the path
10 – Pastel markers
11 – 30 January
12 – Wesak (LoFi version)
13 – Watermelon in Easter hay
14 – Looking back, moving forward

Line-up:
Elisa Montaldo (vocals, backing vocals, piano, Rhodes piano, Roli Seaboard Rise 2, keyboards, synthesizers, autoharp, Native American flute, hulusi flute, mandolin, African percussion, ocarina, effects).
Guest musicians: Mattias Olsson (drums, percussion),
Francesco Ciapica (vocals),
Barbara Rubin (vocals and violin),
Carmine Capasso (guitars, theremin, sitar),
Giacomo Castellano (electric guitars),
Carlo Guardamagna (bass)