A Glimpse of a Bigger Story is the 14th release by Inner Prospekt, the musical outlet of talented Italian artist, Alessandro Di Benedetti.
This release is on Bandcamp only, as Alessandro is looking to release physical copy of a new work next year.
There are six songs and five interludes, all reworkings of previous album tracks, and I have indicated where the originals can be found.
The Heart Maker Tale (Deep Ghosts 2016) opens. Right from the off, there is a smoother, jazzier feel to proceedings. This song belongs in an Italian speakeasy, the audience lounging and appreciating the louche notes and soothing voice. Three minutes in, a beautifully delicate wind before the jazz piano takes centre stage. The intensity builds towards the denouement, with a class guitar riff from Frederico Tetti moving the track back to its rock roots.
The interludes are seductive short piano pieces, extremely relaxing music. I have embedded a couple of them at the foot of this review.
A Poison Tree (Man In Blake 2016) takes a darker hue, vengeful, taken from William Blake’s poem which ended in the murder of the target of his ire. There is a sense of mystery with the strings and woodwind. The act itself in the music is, interestingly, almost playful, perhaps reflecting the state of mankind itself. I love the thoughtful guitar solo by Rafael Pacha. This delight is embedded below.
The Girl from the Ocean (Ocean Suite 2016) opens with a lush sax from Giuseppe Militello against playful light keys and orchestration throughout, and it is very cinematic, certainly a more relaxed affair than the preceding song. The vocals are so laid back and imbued with the tranquillity of the calm coast.
Punto Non di Riturno (Canvas One 2020) was played last week on my Progzilla Radio show. I have also embedded it below. It is a song of beauty. The sax is achingly mournful, and in my impending annual awards, this is a contender for non-UK language track of the year. A gorgeous jazz track, and a real highlight of 2024.
White Skies (Canvas Two 2021) deals with the potential evil inside, the duality of humanity. The opening bars are hymnal on the piano before some lush percussion and a gorgeous bassline melody take over. Carmine Carpasso provides some strong guitar licks, and the strings are simply beautiful as the song, in a powerfully understated manner, swears to defeat the evil.
Three Steps Ahead (The Gene Machine 2015) talks about a liar, a vagabond, whose comeuppance has arrived. The vocals are emotive, quite haunting in their impact, as is, again, the orchestration. Manoel Macia provides a lovely guitar solo – Alessandro’s collaborators, as ever, put in fine performances. This is not a vengeful song – it strikes me as being triumphal, as though it is a positive that the man has been vanquished.
Inner Prospekt is a project for this website can do very little wrong. It is a mark of the inherent talent involved that this is not merely a form of compilation album, a sort of “best of” to mark time until a new release, but an intelligent reworking of previous tracks, and the work gives me a huge amount of pleasure to listen to.
There are many goodies to be had by visiting https://innerprospekt.bandcamp.com/ Worth every single penny, too.