Although he seemed tempted to move away from the acronym under which he had signed his previous works, he ultimately decided to keep it, though this time in parentheses, in the credits of ‘Steps’. This choice keeps a connection to Luca Di Mira, the keyboardist of Giardini di Mirò, who also produced under the name Pillow. His notable albums include “Flowing Seasons” (2006) and “From Dusk to Dawn” (2012). This chapter, which features a magnificent 12-page booklet with artwork by Witold Ceckiewicz, whose “Monument of Torn Hearts” graces the cover, is immediately imbued with a sense of nostalgia. This feeling channels itself into glittering minimalist paths, with melodic traces and some barely perceptible dissonance. The final section ventures into vast spatiality.In ‘Steps (That’s How It Has Crept Between Us)’, supremely melancholic piano lines creep in, while in ‘And I’ll Be There For You’, a warm, romantic current re-establishes the thread that ties together an otherwise loose knot of expectation. However, midway through the track, telluric loop oscillations emerge, hinting at the dramatic side of this perhaps futile yearning. ‘Dreaming’ distills melancholy with glitchy interruptions, set against a self-indulgent piano, gradually drifting off into slumber to believe once again. In ‘In The End What Remains Will Be Love For You’, regret and loss rise, floating within as the music swells. In ‘En-Mor Mood’, the abandonment of the piano becomes an awareness and romantic impulse so potent that it shakes, extinguishing itself in gloom. This leads into the solemnity of ‘Storms’, where the dark interiority reveals veins of epic grandeur, underscored by field recordings and textures. ‘Our Silent Place’ marks a return to intimacy, a safe haven, though much seems to have changed in a place that remains shared, but now lonely. It is dark, yet we press on, moving toward the epilogue—through the fog that leads us into the reprise of ‘Steps‘.

[8.0] Paolo Bertoni