Magnolia
began life in Rome in 1994 under the name Eclissidra on the
initiative of Alessandro Di Cori, Donatella Valeri and Bruno Tifi.
After many troubles, some line up changes and a long hiatus, in 2012
they released a full length début album, “La zona d'ombra”, on
the independent label Lizard Records. The current line up features
Chiara Gironi (vocals), Donatella Valeri (piano, keyboards), Simone
Papale (bass), Claudio Carpenelli (drums, backing vocals), Bruno Tifi
(guitars, backing vocals) and Alessandro Di Cori (guitars, bass,
synthesizers, backing vocals). Their main sources of inspiration
range from Pink Floyd to Anathema, from Italian melody to Porcupine
Tree, from The Gathering to classical music and many more but the
overall sound is not too derivative and the final result is rather
good.
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| Magnolia 2012 |
“La
Zona d’ombra” (The shadow zone) is a committed concept album
freely based on the story of David Hicks, a man sentenced to death
who was executed in Texas on January 20, 2000. David Hicks was a
black man who was charged for the murder of a relative, an old woman.
According to the band, it doesn't matter if he was guilty or not, the
aim of this work is just to describe the shadow zone between
innocence and evil that everyone could enter when doubts and suspects
begin to whirl around. The opener title track evokes a winter night
in a hot city, the mood is melancholic and tense. There's a man who
can't sleep, he's driving his car along the streets and when a murder
is committed he's in the wrong place at the wrong moment... “A
woman dies alone / And you are there, where it happens / The
certainty that you have a bill to pay takes shape / A woman dies
alone / And there's a nigger in the street... And as your life is at
stake / The governor opens his game...”.
“Road
To Hell I” is a short instrumental with piano and organ in the
forefront that describes the beginning of the nightmare. It leads to
the vibrant “Non ho” (I haven't got) which raises questions about
the importance of money, power and media and their influence on the
legal system... “They say that what you've got is not what you are
/ But have they ever experienced what does it mean to own nothing at
all? / The truth is that you are the shadow zone of the country /
They will never forgive you to be born to remember them that they can
be wrong... The real goal of the power is making you silent...”. If
your skin is not of the right colour, if you have no money to pay the
right lawyers, if media are not on your side and if you do not belong
to the right party, do you really think that you will ever have a
right trial?
“Lì
fuori” (Out there) describes the feelings of an inmate inside his
cell who is waiting for the his meeting with the Grim Reaper, the
black mother that will eventually take him to hell. He's longing for
a piece of horizon... “I was an ordinary man before God closed His
eyes / I was just man like others before I became the city
monster...”. The following “Home” begins with a ringing bell
and a dreamy piano passage. The music conjures up sweet memories from
the inmate's family life. There's a house and a garden, there are
crowded streets full of tired travellers... What happened? What is
left of all his broken dreams?
“Road
To Hell II” is a short instrumental track based on a nice guitar
arpeggio that leads to “Lettere di Annie” (Letters from Annie), a
beautiful bitter-sweet track describing what the inmate feels when he
reads the letters he receives from a woman who still believes in him
and seems still convinced that he will be released, sooner or
later... “Annie keeps on writing on every Monday / She perfectly
knows I will never come out from here / Annie, who tells me to never
give up / But night after night she will have to ask herself /
Whether it was good or not to be waiting for me...”.
“Piccola
ala” (Little wing) describes the unhappy, difficult childhood of
the inmate. His mother is ill, he does not go to school and social
services can't help him. As a boxer, the little child has to grow up
and learn how to beat up his merciless destiny. Next comes the
heartfelt “La gabbia” (The cage) that describes the difficult
relationship between the inmate and his violent father. Bad memories,
long hours passed hidden in the basement, a growing hate... “You,
who wished nothing but to be a perfect son of God... The body, the
tears and then you can't come back...”.
“Nel
mio nome” (In my name) is built on a beautiful piano pattern and is
a short reflection about justice. Every life is worth to be lived,
there's no man who has the right to sentence another man to death.
Nonetheless the jury will stand up while the condemned defendant will
fall down suffocated by a hazy truth. The following “Ellis One”
features a dark atmosphere where rage and regret are blurred while
the lyrics evoke images of inmates treated as animals waiting for the
slaughter. Is all this necessary in a country that boasts its civil
rights?
“Corridoi”
(Corridors) conjures up the image of a dead man walking in the
corridors of a jail. He's on his way to the execution room but it's
not time yet. They bring him back to his cell, he has still to wait
for the final act... “Now you know it / You were already in the
corridors / You were in the list, you will get used to it / Maybe you
will have time to get used to it...”.
The
pulsing instrumental “Road To Hell III” leads to the conclusive
“Black Out” that describes the execution. There's people
observing the scene behind a glass, faces that freeze into the veins
of the condemned man and melt. A sensation of cold comes down, it's
the final curtain... “By bye... Blackout...”.
“The
Deuteronomy book of the Bible commands, "Justice, justice shall
you pursue." When asked why the word justice is repeated,
one ancient commentator replied that there are two aspects of
justice: the end of convicting only the guilty, and the means
that requires that in the interest of rarely convicting the innocent,
we sometimes acquit the guilty. It is not long before the young
lawyer realizes that no one really wants justice. Everyone wants to
win. The façade behind which the desire to win is hidden is called
justice” (Alan Dershowitz, from the book Letters to a Young
Lawyer).
Magnolia:
La zona d'ombra (2012). Other opinions:
Chris
“Seventhsojourn”: Magnolia have been around since the
mid-nineties and following a ten-year hiatus they're back with a bang
in the form of the thought-provoking “La Zona d'Ombra”, a concept
album inspired by the story of convicted murderer David Hicks... The
story is told through a series of flashbacks and memories that
influence the music, with the prevailing feel being moody and
atmospheric... While Magnolia seem to have inherited the Italian
interest for all things American they thankfully sing in their own
language, but the statements they make with their music are strong
enough in any case. 'La Zona d'Ombra' is nothing less than and
nothing else than a classic of modern Italian prog rock... (read
the complete review HERE)
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