Background Magazine (Netherlands)
Fleeting Steps is the debut album of Gianluca Livi, co-founder of the doom metal band Anno Mundi, with whom he has published two albums on which he played drums, guitars and bass. But this time around he shows a completely different musical face to his audience. The music he has written for his debut will be loved by those who are more into the fantastic world of ambient music. Where the limits are irrelevant, and this is all the more important as it could restrict the creative spirit of some talented artists. Some lovers of progressive rock listen from time to time to this kind of music as well, because it has some musical references.
Let's take a closer look today at the latest Italian experimental music. With Fleeting Steps Gianluca Livi made a much sought-after and charming album. The Italian artist clearly shows his intention to reach his audience, enter the wonderfully sad world of Fleeting Steps' vast melodies. If you follow closely the doom metal of the Peninsula, the name of Gianluca Livi should not be foreign to you. He is indeed one of the founding members of the formation of Anno Mundi, strong presence of an album. Yet it is in a completely different musical range that we find today the one who is usually behind the battery Fleeting Steps can' t be put in a simple box. Its richness and its ethereal aspect make it an album as bewitching as it is complex. To put it simply, you will not need more than one listening or two to fall in love. Gianluca Livi has done an admirable job of making Fleeting Steps a multi-faceted album, but its coherence and consistency can be questioned.
The album starts with the solid and beautiful duet formed by the two parts of Birth Of A Flower (In A Post-Atomic Landscape) and the listener is transported from the outset to some elevated point to contemplate from above all the devastating beauty of a landscape in total agony. Given the information that we have of this album, his themes seem to relate to a dystopian future, In spite of the tone adopted, one feels like a desire to marvel at the slightest thinning, hence the insistence on the difficult birth of the flower in question.
On a technical level, even if it does not represent the same interest, Gianluca Livi likes to vary the sounds, but always in acceptable proportions. Thus, in addition to ambience and vaguely electronic sounds, the electric guitar, bass and drums are used, but sparingly. The most flagrant demonstration probably appears on the title Lost In Space. It should also be added that the artist was accompanied by three other musicians, namely Stefano Pontani (guitar, loop station), Massimo Sergi (piano, synthesizer, ambience) and Domenico Dente (bass guitar)on almost all the titles of the album. Gianluca Livi himself does all the main themes, ambience, laptop, noise, electronic drums and percussions on this release.
From beginning to end, Fleeting Steps appears as a very liberated album that encourages travel. Perceive the meditative character of certain titles, such as Talkin 'To An Alien About Eternity. The entire album is built on the same thread, as a journey filled with images as involved as each other. Fleeting Steps belongs to this category of album which gathers the most vaporous works, but whose wealth is matched only by the beauty that it releases. At the same time uncertain and melancholy, Fleeting Steps is offered to its potential public devoid of any artifice. In its beautiful setting, Gianluca Livi's album is bewitching and a bit menacing, just enough to remind us that we will never be able to tame such an album. The book seems simple, accessible and docile. It is actually rich with a fatal beauty that can only be perceived by the most receptive. Anyway, the Italian artist serves us a very nice menu, and it would be a shame not to enjoy it ...
All in all this is a great ambient album if you are into this kind of music. Intriguing atmospheres and sought after sounds. Variegated in the compositions. Excellent sound quality. Not at all boring thanks to the diversification of compositional geometries. Strongly recommended if you are into the music of acts such as Brian Eno and Harold Budd to name but a few.
**** Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen)
https://www.backgroundmagazine.nl/CDReviews/GianlucaLiviFleetingSteps.html
