So, Ronin eh? Not the cracking movie with the awesome chase sequence, starring Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, and some other types, but a post rock band from Italy. It’s obvious that they’re post rock, on account of the lack of vocals, excess of noodling, and general other-worldliness.
Ok, so before I go on, I have to admit, I do love me a bit of good post rock; 65daysofstatic, Sigur Ros, Mogwai, Explosions In The Sky; all awesome, and can barely put a foot wrong. But for every 65days, there are a hundred bands who pump out the same, generic, tuneless nonsense. Ronin have more to themselves than that, but are in genuine danger of tipping over into tuneless territory.
‘Fenice’ opens quietly, 5 minutes of not a lot, in the form of ‘Spade’, building to the most ‘meh’ conclusion I’ve ever heard, BUT it segues quite nicely into ‘Benevento’, which pounds along not reinventing music, but being alright. Then it drops back into ‘Selce’, a track that just doesn’t do anything. In fact, ‘Selce’ sounds like a forgotten track from Mark Knopfler’s ‘Local Hero’ sessions, recorded in a parallel universe where Ennio Morricone was his producer.
This Morricone motif however, continues on the track ‘Jambiya’, which is utterly, utterly wonderful. Bringing hints of the aforementioned Morricone, fused with elements of South American folk, clean, rumbling bass lines, and skittery piano, ‘Jambiya’ is fully worth the price of admission alone, and at 4:27 doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.
An interesting inclusion on the album is a cover of Sinatra’s ‘A Very Good Year’, with vocals from Emma Tricca. Haunting, and quiet, with space and depth a-plenty, it’s actually a lot better than you’d think after the first listen, and certainly does warrant repeated listens.
Taken as an entire work, however, ‘Fenice’ is difficult to judge. On the one hand, the sum of its parts don’t add up to much, but the atmosphere it builds over its 42 minute running time is difficult to ignore. It is world music, but written with the ear of a film score composer. There are few catchy hooks that spring to mind, but some of the tunes really do delight you while they’re there.
I think it’s fair to say that this ‘Fenice’ is an album that you may enjoy while you’re listening to it, but once it’s finished, and you’ve moved onto the next thing, you’ll be hard pushed to remember why.
Released February 26 on Audioglobe
Posted by Darren Saunders
