Pias Vinyl & CDs

Review: Belgian jazz singer Melanie Di Biasio first came to light around 2007 on Igloo, but she's since fostered a steady relationship with indie giants [PIAS] which has resulted in two subsequent albums, No Deal and Lilies. After a six-year gap, she returns with a new set which finds her edging into intriguing new territory. Il Viaggio is framed as 'a quest for musical, physical, and spiritual renewal, born from an emotional memory awakened'. Make of that what you will, but the music contained within finds her voice framed by a broad spectrum of sonics as she leads us through two distinct halves across two discs - Lay Your Ear To The Rail and The Chaos Azure.

Review: Although her roots lie in jazz, Melanie De Biasio has not made jazz - or at least purist jazz - for many years. Il Viaggio, a vast double album that marks her first studio set for nearly six years, continues this trend, blending field recordings, sound collage, choral music, ambient, the neo-classical darkness of Dead Can Dance, piano works reminiscent of Harold Budd's more contemplative works, and occasional nods towards trip-hop - all arranged as a kind of sonic journey to (and through) Italy by train as a way of rediscovering her distant Italian roots. With plenty of long, immersive tracks and bags of atmosphere, Il Viaggio is a hugely atmospheric and immersive affair that more than delivers on its conceptual premise.