fakejazz.com

Italian post-rockers Dilatazione offer their debut in Too Emotional for Maths, a pastoral blend of shimmering guitars, pronounced bass, and intricate percussion. For a band with such a reverberatively clean sound, guitarists Patrizio Gioffredi and Mirko Bertolucci stray away from the icy mood of groups such as Efterklang or Sigur Rós. Rather, their layered tone is accented with horns, synths, and even theremin - even while claiming they have been more greatly influenced by the industrial sounds of American post-rock. Yet, this becomes more evident as the album progresses, featuring bouts of intensity amid near-silence. Aside from two tracks, the album is entirely instrumental. Those tracks, "Cendre in" and "Cendre out," have a similar feel to the rest of the album yet include what ranges from softly sung crooning to essentially spoken-word lyrics, all performed in French. While the lyrics can be arbitrary as simply another layer on top of the multitude of the already-full texture for English-only listeners, the lyrical work of French experimental artist Amaury Cambuzat is considered by Dilatazione to be responsible for dragging out the "most inner and emotional side" of the group. Yet to their credit, the lyrics are unnecessary to discover this emotion, as each musician accomplishes incredibly nuanced work. "Solo in una Strada Affollata" is by far the standout of the album, both driving and dynamic. The cutting percussive work of Alessio Gioffredi adds an excellent dimension to the wide, spacial tonality of the other instruments. At other times, such as in sections of "Tutto si Dimentica," the instruments mimic this tighter sound, complete with band tacets, nearly straying completely from the European post-rock formula. While the tracks with vocals do affect the pacing of Too Emotional for Maths, the overall pace of the album is acceptable. However, the previously mentioned closing track "Tutto si Dimentica" ends abruptly while possibly reaching the apogee of intensity on the album - an interesting choice for the finale, yet does its job of leaving the listener finding his way back to the first track. Regardless of these minor potential production flaws, Dilatazione have composed an incredibly colored debut that does nothing but improve with multiple listens.

Dilatazione at Amazon & Insound