Angelina Luzi
Silent Moon
I was absolutely intrigued when I read the bio for this review. She was born in Italy, is based in London, teaches vocals, has worked with 50-person choirs, and calls herself a “folktronica” artist. Ok, what is this?! She has close to two dozen releases on her Spotify account, spanning a few genres and showing her impressive vocal range. The instrumentation of those tracks will keep you guessing, but what she accomplishes with this track, “Silent Moon,” is on a much grander scale - here’s my review.
It’s a theatrical start, with sound effects from a train, an airy keyboard patch, a downstroke acoustic riff in G, a simple bell riff that hits the major 7. Her vocals come in pretty quickly, starting on the 5, and you can tell from her first phrases that something big is about to go down. The melody is complicated and specific, but her pronunciation, timing and tone are on point. There’s a strong sense of urgency in her delivery, but she does it with the right amount of breathe and space. Again, you can feel the tension building. I really like how the meldoy goes up, while the progression goes down - creating a wider sense of scene and sonic landscape. Great first verse, we’re off to a solid start!
Pre-chorus starts on the 4, and you begin to get a sense of her orchestral background with the choice for the sonic movement to go down, instead of up - once again, wider space is created - great choice. Lovely drum playing - great tones and fills - wonderful mix. I am a sucker for a fretless bass so I’m all about this feel and love the mix. From an arrangement perspective, she does a fine job of letting her vocal delivery simplify a bit, to create some room for all the instruments coming in, bass, drums, more keyboards - it’s a lovely palette. What I believe to be the first Chorus is a vocalization/scat, not a story - dig it - let’s see if it returns! The end of this section reminds me of Peter Gabriel as she sets up the second verse.
Absolutely love the groove of the second verse. Check out the groove from the bass and drums, and pay attention to the effects that are bouncing between your speakers - this is a massive mix that keeps getting better. The challenge in a track like this is to not overdo it. It would be so easy to rip a solo here are there, show off with some kick ass riff, but she does a great job in containing the entire score and vibe to get the element of space as the most important factor. When her vocals come in (and you should really pay attention to the lyrics, btw), you can hear and feel what she was setting up with the delivery of the first verse. The ball of energy is one step closer to being released! (By the way, if you’re wondering how I write these blogs - I’ll listen to a section, stop and write, then move on to the next. Have I heard the whole song yet? Yes, I have, but I listen to so many new songs every day that I honestly can’t remember how this one ends. Once I get to the end I’ll go back and maybe make a few changes, but I try to take a section by section approach).
Ok, back to what I think the Pre Chorus is, and I’m totally in love with the bass player. ;) If that’s Tony Levin I’m going to die. ;) The melody here is absolutely lovely, a wonderful upward progression as the band moves down. This second chorus is much much bigger as that vocal ball of tension finally explodes - especially on the back half. The range that she shows here is stunning - great tone and control. The bridge is a lovely clam down - a nice section of deep breathes after a long run - and the ending comes as a complete surprise, this is where it ends! Wow, didn’t expect that! Love it, love her phrasing at the end, love the feeling that we’ve just come off an exhilarating ride and need to take a few deep breathes and a cold shower.
Would love to know what mic she used to track that vocal, and where this was recorded. Everything about this production is stellar. Mix is perfectly balanced, there’s hidden surprises in the corners of your speakers (or cans), and it takes you a couple of listens to pick out all the gems - kudos to her team. “Silent Moon” is by far her strongest release to date.
Make sure you scroll down to catch her socials and other tracks. “Fight Your Skin” has a great Rhodes tone, a percussion track that will surprise you and vocal delivery that’s very R&B. “Life,” released in 2022, is very much a world beat vibe - and similar to this release in terms of its build. The groove, instrumentation and production on “Let Your Heart Be Mine” will give you a glimpse into her depth as a writer. Congrats on a beautiful track, Angelina! I would love to see this live someday - especially with an orchestra!