Italian outfit, Tale Cue, were founded in 1988 by vocalist Laura Basla, guitarist Silvio Masanotti, and keyboardist Giovanni Porpora, after playing together in a cover band.

In 1991, they released their debut album, Voices Beyond My Curtain, quite well received at the time.

And that was that until 2025. Yes, a whole 34 years between albums, the sort of planning that Rip van Winkle might be familiar with.

The new work is Eclipse of the Midnight Sun, and, as ever with large breaks between projects, the question one must ask is; was the wait worth it?

In this case, the answer is an overwhelming yes. This is an album of varying themes, very intelligently written and faultlessly performed.

So, ten tracks, and 55 minutes of music, and a lush booklet, beautifully presented.

Before we discuss, let’s take a look at the promo video.

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Voices from the Past is a suitable overture to proceedings, a short jazzy intro with some noodling and improvisation, all protagonists heralding The Rage and the Innocence, essentially discovery, battles of inner intent, having to find a way after being stripped of the dreams of childhood; to quote Led Zep, what is and what could never be. The opening notes are dissonant before the glorious surprise of the delicate, fragile, and simply beautiful voice of Laura Basla takes precedence, with you expecting some form of vocal rage, growling, or similar impact, and this dichotomy is so very clever and leaving an imprint upon the listener, the pastoral notes accompanying this voice pitch perfect. The three-minute mark does, though, demonstrate that the voice and the swirling keys and guitar, with a thumping rhythm section, can rock out with the best of them, the fightback, the life returning with the protagonist in total control of her own destiny. A superb start.

For Gold and Stones follows, that child who leaves perhaps a place without a future, seeking her dreams, only a suitcase in hand, wondering the country on a train, seeking her fortune, or perhaps, of course, simply happiness, some of which will, naturally turn out to be an illusion. The piano of Giovanni Porpora is delicate, flowing, and Basla tells her tale with an expressive wonder, a suitcase ruined by the rain, the range so pleasing. The mid-section is still dreamy, but with a more urgent edge to it, some fine guitar riffs from Silvio Masanotti, a symphonic sensibility present, Porpora creating the soundscapes which accompany us trying to get to know this mysterious girl. The closing passage picks up the urgency, the pleading for closeness and a shared ambition. Stunning, and embedded below for you.

Suntears on the booklet has the most gorgeous picture of ocean and moon, and it is reproduced for you below. It is a tale of seeking freedom from loneliness with redemption in the form of love, a new day, life, reborn from the ashes, and it reminds me so much of the feelings I had when my beautiful wife saved me from a selfish, self-indulgent, but ultimately deeply unhappy single existence to the joining of souls we enjoy so deeply now. I like Masanotti’s deep rumbling bass and moody, mean guitar at the start of the song, the recollection of repressed emotion wrought large, but the voice and band soaring fills the body and soul with love, the close quietly orchestral.

Gordon Sinclair is a tale of derring-do, the girl changing her name in deference to her father, but crossing the ocean in a fragile plane, braving storms, I believe both internal and external. This is essentially a pop/rock track filling the room with energy, Alessio Cobau leading the charge on his skins and Masanotti producing a fine guitar solo and set of riffs.

Tides is a thoughtful piece on the cycles of life, the Silver Goddess of the moon ruling over and influencing our every will, the tides shifting and governing our deepest being. This piece of beauty is a strong contender for my “ballad of the year” award on the website, Porpora & Basla combining to such quietly powerful impact, a gorgeous acoustic guitar with some delicate jazz-infused bass and percussion underpinning it all. Masanotti gives us such a thoughtful and understated guitar solo on this, some gentle soundscapes created by the keys. It is embedded below for you. I love this piece of music, a genuine highlight of 2025.

The Cue tells a tale of secrets buried in a book, aching to be opened and let loose upon her. Musically, this is pure rock ‘n roll, a heavy prog rock track which achieves that difficult balance of impact without excessive force. Back in the day, this would have received plenty of FM radio play.

I have also produced the angelic artwork for Lady M below, a fallen angel haunted by memories through the emptiness of time. The opening passage is melancholic, a mellotron used to good effect alongside the acoustic guitar. The intensity builds with a dark and moody guitar bursting out of the speakers, the rhythm section pulsing below, some dextrous fretwork on offer here, Basla distinctly mysterious, a sort of Marlene Dietrich set to music, the counterpoint in Porpora’s swirling synths and the heavy guitar solo fascinating.

We Will be Back Once More, the inevitability of personal oblivion, certainly the atheist mantra that life is an all too brief period of light sandwiched between two eternal periods of darkness, but then the certainty of belief (which I share) of rebirth, of returning, of fulfilling personal destiny. Given the subject matter, one might have expected a musical meditative track, but there is, in fact, a distinct playfulness inherent inside this, the drum work very strong in its complexity, the insistence of self forceful, some gorgeous little orchestral effects, some of this dripping with catchy commerciality, the closing vocal passage simply beautiful, Basla opening her heart, and amongst all this, an interesting fusion of symphonic, Americana, and epic noise.

We close with Vertigo, a grand suite of personal struggle, an epic-length track to delight us hardcore prog fans. By this stage, your senses have fallen in love with this voice and the gorgeous pastoral soundscapes this band are capable of creating, the production, incidentally, perfect. But they also rock, Act II dystopian and creating a frightening struggle against the dizziness and swaying of the condition. There is some ghostly guitar in Act III, which, alongside the keys remind one of Arena’s pomp, the lyrics and vocals in Act IV playfully reminding me of The Lamb, imbued with the same energetic spirit, the guitar riff on taking the little white pills complex and loud, the final act taking us down, the piano closing.

If Tale Cue carry on at this rate of releases, I will be 94 years old for the third album. Given that I fully intend to still be here, pint in hand, headphones wrapping ears, I look forward to it.

Eclipse of the Midnight Sun is a superb album, another dramatic addition to the rock pantheon of 2025, and comes very highly recommended.