I said this in the last review and I will say it again: “Earthset is the Agatha Christie of #Indie!” These four guys from Bologna, Italy are the quintessential example of the type of artist that purposefully goes left when the theory dictates right, and make the music ever so more tasteful in the process and, in the process, made the title of their latest album ‘Popism’ synonymous with words such as ‘professionalism’, ‘progism’, and ‘revolutionism’. OK, some of those aren’t words, but they should be.
Check out our other reviews and interview with Earthset:
- First Listen: Earthset – Flush
- First Look: Earthset – So What?!
- Jammerzine Exclusive: Inside the Mind of Earthset
@EarthsetBand [rotatingtweets screen_name=’EarthsetBand’]
About “Popism”
POPISM is the second EP by Italian band from Bologna known as Earthset. The theme is a compositional “game”, the challenge was producing a “light” and more immediate EP compared to “In a State of Altered Unconsciousness”. The title, POPISM, comes from the search for pop atmospheres and was recently used to describe that trend in music critique which recognizes artistic dignity to Pop music.
The tracks, in their order, represent a path towards increasingly Pop atmospheres. It begins with “Around the Head” a structurally schizophrenic song, the lyrics of which are an interior dialogue on betrayed expectations and passive attitude in the face of difficulties. The song was inspired in part by band members’ personal hardships and partly by an anime’s characters which were used to describe the behavior of the protagonist’s two voices.
“In the Pendant” (a pun on the word Independent) in an outburst, a criticism of the independent environment which emulates and replicates the dynamics of the world of mainstream, deadening and conforming the musical proposal to the search for the fashionable formula.
“Flush” is the song which, after the outburst, turns to more Indie-Pop textures. The lyrics tell of a circumstance where the protagonist discovers and accepts, by breaking her routine, a hidden, and to a certain extent disowned, part of herself. Like two unknown wanderers, the two egos of the protagonist meet and are reconciled in the song’s final explosion, which is followed by a bittersweet coda.
“Icarus’ Flight” concludes the quartet with an overtly pop song whose lyrics are inspired by the mythological episode of Icarus’ flight. The myth originally has a paideutic significance whose purpose is to teach the young not to disobey the fathers, whereas in the song Icarus is the champion of humanity who prefers to outdo himself, at the cost of losing his life rather than accepting the cautious and mediocre existence suggested by Daedalus’ wise advice. The final verse encapsulates the song’s meaning. “Ghosts and Afterthoughts” closes the EP. Ghosts and afterthoughts, which lead back to the psychedelic textures of the band’s more experimental songs, yet built on loops with an electronic and noise feel… signs of future developments? At the moment we’re not quite sure ourselves to be honest. An EP that is a game, a challenge, and a new proposal.
POPISM was self-produced by the band and Carlo Marrone (also producer of “In a State of Altered Unconsciousness” and other artists’ works such as “Petali” and “Malamore” by Gianluca Mondo, as well as multi-instrumentalist with, among others, My Own Parasite, Carlomargot, Murder, currently Soren Larsen). The mix, by Carlo Marrone, coherently with the EP’s theme, has explored more pop atmospheres, maintaining, at the same time, the band’s alternative rock spirit.
The drums were recorded and edited by Michele Postpischl (Ofeliadorme).
The master was done at Fonoprint Studios by Enrico Capalbo (producer of“In a State of Altered Unconsciousness”, sound engineer at Fonoprint Studios for, amongst others, Arto Lindsay, Luca Carboni, Gianmaria Testa, Paolo Fresu, Ofeliadorme, Francesco Guccini, Humberto Gatica, currently multi-instrumentalist with Soren Larsen ).
The cover art represents a sketch of watercolor shadings. Each of the four colors used identifies a member of the band and a song of the EP.
SOURCE: Official Release
LINKS:
https://www.facebook.com/Earthset
https://twitter.com/EarthsetBand
https://earthset.bandcamp.com
