Short Reviews [Black Pie - 2024 - "Angels"]

I must be honest and say I was quite confused when I started listening to this, as this is not a style of music I normally associate with BWR as this is way more modern, far less gothic and proggy, and much more into the pop rock funk style with some progressive overtones here and here. The band was originally a trio comprising Elena "Hellen" Villa (ex-Malcondita) on bass, mandolin and lead vocals, Claudio "Clode" Cinquegrana (ex-New Trolls), on guitars, keyboards and backing vocals along with Silvano "Syl" Bottari (ex-Vanexa) on drums. Originally the idea was to be a type of covers band reinterpreting classic material, but after a while they decided to go into the studio and work on new material. They also felt the need for a full-time keyboard player and invited Stefano Genti (also ex-New Trolls) to come onboard, and this album is the result. While New Trolls may never gained the heights of other bands from the Italian prog scene there is no doubt that the have released some great material over the years, and most fans of RPI will have some of their albums in their collection somewhere (whether or not it includes Cinquegrana or Genti is another matter altogether as this is a band who have a very long history and quite few changes and splits). However, I have never come across an album of their which sounds anything like this. This never feels like a European release, but instead feels very American in its approach and Villa has a wonderfully clear vocal style on the material, which is all performed in English. There is almost an Amy Winehouse style at times, looking backwards while always trying to be modern, but the problem I have is that this is way too pop and while there are plenty of things going on I don't really want to listen to them. It feels highly repetitive at times, and when they do try to break things into a rockier model, such as on "People From The Sky" it feels somewhat false and calculated as opposed to flowing and natural. Nicely produced, with some lovely vocals, the style is not something I would ever normally play for pleasure and I am sure the only reason they are on BWR is they are Italian and have some prog references, but they do not come through nearly enough here.