In 2018, Inner Prospekt, the musical vision of Alessandro di Benedetti, released Seven Ways to Lose Yourself. Alessandro has recently set about reimagining his past works, and his Dreaming Tony Banks reworking was released earlier this year – click on the image below to see my review.
On the original “Seven Ways…”, guitarist and Mad Crayon collaborator Federico Tetti featured, and he is back again, this time appearing on all barring one track. This is an instrumental work, except for Rebirth, for which Tetti provided the lyrics.
There are eight pieces of music, three of which are of epic length, so, again, a real treat for those who adore long form music, plenty for us to get our teeth stuck into. The album was inspired by a trip Alessandro took to Japan in 2010, and the booklet contains photographs of that journey. You can pick up a copy of this at https://innerprospekt.bandcamp.com/album/seven-ways-to-lose-yourself-2025
Free Walk sets us off on our journey, over eleven minutes of music. The piano which introduces us to this piece of music is a gentle balm to the spirits, joined then by some percussion, a lightness of touch evident, the listener with his headphones on, walking in an unfamiliar landscape, totally safe, and the differing districts hitting you, some quiet, some fun, some hustling and bustling, and there is some really fine understated bass guitar work on this track. Pastoral jazz rock at its finest, with distinctive shades of Banks in some of the synth work.
The Fun District follows, where the action takes place. Tokyo is a city where all pleasures, and temptations, known to man are available. Accompanying the piano and keys are a delightfully funky rhythm guitar, some more strong bass guitar, at times with a complex rhythm section underscoring it all in the livelier passages, in a track which puts across perfectly the wonder one must feel at entering such a cosmopolitan mix of bars, restaurants, shops, flashing neon signs, and it is all wrapped up in a suitable tinge of eastern mystery, particularly the extended synth solo and the choral effects. This wonderful track is embedded below for you to enjoy.
Down Deep, exploring the strange country, immersing oneself in its culture. We immerse ourselves in an intense piano recital, a joy which really should fill the concert halls of Europe, a modern classical delight.
Where They Live follows. It is a truism that when one visits a country, stays in a hotel, have a fabulous time, many tourists express a wish to relocate, to up sticks and dream of recapturing that lovely, fleeting moment in their lives. Of course, a holiday doesn’t equate to living somewhere, and in order to understand a society and its citizens properly, you need to see where and how they live. The track is more than thirteen minutes, and the contrasting moods and observations are fascinating. The stereotype of Japanese society is, I suppose, that of order, rigidity, but this charming piece goes way beyond that, introducing some very light touches to the business of everyday life, the organ work especially prominent, the piano representing the bustling people as they retreat to the privacy of their apartments after a busy day, this evidenced by some quite industrial sounds, some of the noises of the city very intense with supremely urgent guitar solos from Tetti, and a continuation of the exceptional rhythm work evident throughout, the bass pulsing especially strongly, the cries of the citizens in the choral part safely inside and away from the corporate discipline of work, the beautiful piano perhaps giving us that quietly joyful evening meal, the final guitar burst taking us to bed. A candidate for instrumental track of the year on this website, get yourself a nice drink and sit down to enjoy this track embedded below.
The Breath of the Red Lights is another epic. Looking at the photo on the digipack, the preponderance of the high-rise blocks and the dizziness of a city never fully sleeping is, of course, a reason why I would not enjoy a trip there. I prefer quiet to noise, bucolic to concrete, walking to millions of cars. The keyboard work by Di Benedetti as the main piece commences is one for aficionados of jazz rock, complex, some wonderful drum and percussion, different phases. Four minutes in, the guitar solo is down and dirty against the organ, very intense, with the gorgeous piano solo which immediately follows it highlighting just how well this artist is capable of musical sensual changes, the whole mid-passage gentle, wind and brass taking us away. The final passage is announced by a bright guitar solo, where you have reached the top of the tower on that elevator of sound, and simply take in the views of the city, the synths dramatic as you try to take it all in below, sometimes pausing so that you can catch your breath.
Rebirth has Alessandro singing the lyrics originally written and sung by Tetti. It talks of getting lost, trembling legs, of the need, I think, to escape the intensity of the visit so that a recalibration of the memories in a quieter place can happen. The synths create a wall of sound on this, and some of the spartan noises are not kind, and I have seen this track described elsewhere, perfectly correctly, as melancholic in nature. Exploration can be fun. It can also be tiring, and the mournful strings presaging a closing emotional guitar solo are rather beautiful.
The album proper closes with Down Deeper, entering the bowels of the city on those elevators. The opening passage is melodic, a mellotron adding a nice texture to the playful notes as the exploration starts again with energy and fun, the synths questing, the guitar gentle, inviting us into the subterranean world, certainly sounding as if a good night’s sleep has reinvigorated our explorer. Two thirds of the way in, there is a symphonic flourish worthy of a Nursery Cryme or a Foxtrot, and this heralds a more thoughtful closing passage, perhaps reaching the end of the journey, the mellotron rising above the eyes of the observer, with some pretty, but sad, notes as we reach the end, now reflecting upon a trip never to be forgotten, the piano used here as the extension of the man, the voices bringing finality.
There is a bonus track, a shorter version of Rebirth (Unplugged), and it is quite beautiful.
I have over the summer listened to and watched some of the BBC Proms Season and have really enjoyed some of the new music it had to offer. I thought of this whilst listening to, and writing about, this fine album, a work which offers so much to those with a wide musical palette, who appreciate some deliciously complex music presented in such an accessible manner. Inner Prospekt’s music, believe me, would not be out of place in The Royal Albert Hall.
As with all his releases, this comes very highly recommended.