Paola Tagliaferro - 2025 - The Sound Of The Spheres

(38:58; Paola Tagliaferro)






















The first thing one needs to know about this album is that it is available in both English and Italian – Paola did send me both, but I decided to concentrate on this one, but the other is available as ‘Il Suono Delle Sfere’ if you are interested. Paola provides the vocals, and she has been joined by Pier Gonella on bass, Luca Scherani on piano and keyboards with Andrea Orlando on drums. This album is a thematic one, inspired by Ankh, the ancient Egyptian key symbolising eternal life, so after the introductory piece we head to the moon before reaching the sun and then heading out through various objects of the solar system named after ancient gods.

It is quite fitting that this is a voyage through space, as that is very much a featured element in this album with the layers of the arrangement very distinct from each other with plenty of room, enough to drive a spaceship through. I have previously come across Paola from her work with Claudio Milano, and like him she treats her music much more as art than “just” music, with the emotion and feeling being incredibly important which means it does not matter as much if she is not following traditional note placement and keys, and there are indeed times when she does not hit pitch as one may expect, as this is an experimental release which is never going to fit inside the progressive mainstream but should be viewed more as an installation, something which is moving and changing depending on the viewpoint of the listener. Consequently, it is definitely one which needs to be heard prior to release as undoubtedly it will be too abrasive for some while others will view this as a masterpiece. I have never been a fan of songs being faded out, but at least in this context I can understand why that has happened. This is not an immediate album, but one that does take work and even after repeated plays I am not sure if I was listening to it for pleasure or to better understand the experience. Definitely interesting and intriguing. 

Kev Rowland, November 2025

Links:
https://www.paolatagliaferro.it/

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