Sitting somewhere between a more noir Enya, early analogue Vangelis and the Icy melancholy of Beth Gibbons, London based musician and singer Esbe returns with LA SERENISSIMA, her ninth album. , The 2024 album, an atmospheric walk through Venice, is a mix of often lush electronica and Esbe’s distinctive vocals. A contrast to both the Psych Folk and Wickerman vocal music of 2023’s BLOW THE WIND SOUTHERLY and the more electronic I MIGHT BE DREAMING.
“Amarilli Mia Bella” is slowly shifting layered electronic music with a hypnotic fluttering that sounds like Portishead covering Dead Can Dance. “La Serenissima” is a hypnotic slow dance with stunning vocals and string sounds. In a sinister soundscape, Esbe imagines Venetian landscape painter Canaletto glimpsing his beloved canalvista’s succumbing to the rising waters of climate change. “Te Amo” is rythmic electronica witg the power of a ceremony and the big drum sounds of Dead Can Dance. There is a touch of Ninth Wave era Kate Bush in the emotional vocal on “Little Echo”. Instrumental “Footsteps” is built around Esbe’s very contemporary sounding classical inspired acoustic guitar. With tapping and some fine use of space her guitar playing is as nuanced as her work on the keyboards. The plantive guitar continues alongside a wordless vocal on “Victory Pageant “ a piece inspired by a returning army and through the utterly chilling “Deatg In Venice. This is charged and definitely cinematic music with the trumpet and voice on “Death In Venice” as expansive as Leone. “Shadow” with sampled bubbles and tabla is wonderfully claustrophic, introspective and as edgy Film Noir as Portishead. With opening “Amarilli Mia Bella” reinterpreting a, piece from Caccini’s 1602 Le Nuove Musiche and the Operatic Turkish lyrics on “Palazzo” London Royal Academy graduate Esbe clearly has considerable vocal chops and knows her stuff. The New Musics would of been a fitting album title, or an apt description of Esbe’s Ouvre if one is needed. Closing track “La Serenissima Remembered” is a rare thing a musical coda which is as strong as the opener.
With its mix of electronic and acoustic, this is a captivating and simply stunning album. Expansive and eclectic, but never messy thanks to its cohesive mood and feel, this emotional layered modern mood music is highly recommended. I struggled to puck just one track to stand for the whole album, really you need to listen to all of it.
20/06/24
Marc Higgins
Own label 11 tracks
Time Past and Time Passing 