'Loving Dead Eyes' by Magnolia

I WAS very taken with Magnolia's debut release, 'Why!', and rather keen to find out whether the Italian group's first EP was as good as the demo. I also helped translate their lyrics into English, so you could say that I have something of a personal interest. The line-up is exactly the same as it was previously, with the enchanting Mariangela Albanese on vocals, Salvatore Zitoli on keyboards, voice and guitars, and Ettore Torelli on bass. As readers will know from my review of that earlier offering, Magnolia began life as a Goth tribute band and have since moved on to write and perform their own tunes. Based in Bari, located right on the Adriatic coastline's Italian heel, Magnolia came over several months ago to play at the Bridge House in West Sussex and greatly impressed the English audience. This five-track EP lasts just over 20 minutes and kicks off with 'Secret Shelter', the words about natural beauty juxtaposed with images of bloody corpses lying in Winter streams. What strikes me immediately is the fact that there is more of an electronic-rock feel to this release and the sound is as crisp and pure as the white snow mentioned in the song. Mariangela sounds remarkably similar to Kate Bush here and the band's retro-sound is unmistakably set in the heart of the early-1980s. The title-track, 'Loving Dead Eyes', opens with echoed laughing and a catchy bassline that perfectly compliments the great vocals. I compared Matiangela's voice to Pauline Black of The Selecter in my first review and, once again, I can detect the same influence here. The words seem to describe a sense of loss and abandonment, the decline of happiness, the absence of masculinity and concern at contemporary society's disfunctional metrosexuality: 'Women have taken away all the fragile guys / To lead them by the hand to a false perfection.' The third track, 'Ice', is a chance for Zitoli to express his electronic prowess. This is heightened by a great chorus and poignant sentiments about new beginnings, personal development and human metamorphosis. This is one of the EP's highlights. 'Riflessioni' (meaning 'Reflections' in English) is a nostalgic tour through sepia-flavoured memories and opens with a brief duet in Italian. The song continues in English, with Albanese and Zitoli harmonising their way through the Goth-tinged verses and their suitably morbid themes about sadness and an irretrievable past. Finally, 'Wasted' has some clever lyrics about regret and of not making the most of living in the present. There are several existentialist ideas running through this track, as some of life's special moments are analysed through a moral lens. Jean-Paul Sartre's 'Nausea' meets Friedrich Nietzsche's 'Beyond Good and Evil'. I could imagine this being performed by The Smiths, too, there are certainly a few vocal similarities here and there. All in all, then, a great little EP and easily up to the standard of the demo.

Check out Magnolia for yourself at: http://www.magnoliaband.it