XII Alfonso - Under (2008)

I quote myself from a post published last year: This is a concept album that breaks development dynamic of previous recordings: UNDER (2008, Musea). For me, quite good enough… no, highly recommended of a beauty and strength never heard before. Their most progressive album ever published. Philippe’s guitars are descriptive, hardy, sincere, compromising and even warm with acoustic guitars, or hard-hearted, humming, weepy and gentle with the electric ones. He rightly doesn’t stand out above the rest of the group, he accomplish into perfect definition of XII Alfonso’s ensemble unit. Their compositions keep listeners expectative and firmly watchful to constant changes of mood and harmony.

There are ‘jazzy’ moments that make us pay more attention. The most impressive track, “Under Atom”, adds voices samplers giving a brief description ot the first atomic bomb dropping over Japanese town of Hiroshima on 8th August of 1945, making a dramatic scenification of that horrible event in human history. This theme has a remarkable strenght, intense and reflects mankind’s inner fight against atomic threat.

The ultimate climax is occupied by “Under Dream”, divided into two parts, an anthem dedicated to Martin Luther King, as the listener can also hear sampled extracts from his famous “I had a dream” speech facing Lincoln Monument at Washington in 1963. A touching and beautiful track. And a good farewell to listeners.

The reason to talk again of this record is I've recently noticed it's at Spotify, so it's great to have a try and listen it carefully from your computer.

Tracklist:

1. Under Lifetime (5:16)
2. Under Revolution (3:11)
3. Under Knowledge (2:51)
4. Under Progress (6:28)
5. Under Memories (3:06)
6. Under Knowledge (4:06)
7. Under Bark (2:43)
8. Under Atom (7:18)
9. Under Sky (5:28)
10. Under Bark (3:33)
11. Under Lifetime (4:18)
12. Under Stones (4:50)
13. Under Dream Part 1 (5:10)
14. Under Dream Part 2 (4:25)

Total Time 62:49

Line up:
- Philippe Claerhout / guitars,bass
- Francois Claerhout / programming,percussions,keyboards
- Michael Geyre / piano,keyboards
- Thierry Moreno / drums,percussions

Releases information
CD Musea Records FGBG 4814 (2009)



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