aaamusic | On 18, Feb 2013

Italian songwriter Stiv Cantarelli has tended to move away from alternative country, preferring an exciting mix of post punk rock and desert blues.

His new album Black Music/White Music is released on Stovepony Records on 5th March, 2013. It follows his 2011 solo debut album Innerstate and was recorded at various locations across the Romagna Hills in Italy. Petrushka Morsink added “space guitar, ethereal vocals and harmonica from hell”, Antonio Perugini drums and Fabrizio Gramellini bass.

In the love song The Boy’s Draw On The Steamed Window gritty vocals combine with a gentle acoustic guitar, in contrast with the wild screaming rage found in Deconstruction. There’s raw energy and lyrics which are a little easier to understand in the very catchy Cornerstone Blues. Hundred Thousand Stones, a look at poverty, is a sad and haunting song which is a little creepy and Dark Times Blues is also very threatening.

One moment Black Music / White Music is tender, sensitive and emotional and the next aggressive percussion takes you somewhere chilling, menacing and desperate. These original songs have poetic lyrics, sometimes mystical, and a continental touch which makes them feel remote from traditional American folk music.

★★★★★

Anthony Weightman