Arianuova - 2025 - Volevo Andare Altrove

(52:43; Lizard Records)























‘Volevo Andare Altrove’ (‘I Wanted To Go Elsewhere’) is the debut album by Italian progressive outfit Arianuova (New Air). Daniele Olia (guitars,  keyboards, lute, vocals) had the idea of releasing a concept album about the atavistic desires of human beings, and to assist him in that resolve he brought in Luca Bonomi (drums), Massimo Zanon (lead vocals) and Michele Spinoni (guitar). The press release I read is in English, thankfully, but the album is Italian which means the story itself is rather lost on me. Apparently, the booklet also contains all the lyrics in English, so it will be useful to have that to hand when listening to this.

While we do get some classic RPI touches here and there, and some definite nods to PFM, this also has plenty of Neo, Symphonic and Crossover stylings as well, which is where I would have put this on PA if I was still involved with the genre teams. Highlights for me are the delicate eight-minute-long instrumental “La quiete dopo la tempesta” (“The calm after the storm”), which is a musical representation of the different phases of a storm, which arrives, passes, and recedes, and the extended “L’orologio che andava all’indietro”  (“The clock going backwards”) which is a 16-minute suite. Divided into multiple parts, this finds the band channelling their early Genesis, with some lovely, dated keyboards (I hadn’t realised how important the piano accordion is to the genre) and harmony vocals. 

I do feel the drums are rather pedestrian at times and often feel as if they could have been replaced by a drum machine, and this is one of the elements which really lets them down with a tempo which at times feels it is dragging as opposed to driving. Overall, this is an interesting album, albeit not essential, and is a band I will keep an eye on. Kudos to them for performing in their native tongue as opposed to feeling they must sing in English, which means all I can comment on is the music as opposed to the lyrics and storyline, and it will be interesting to see where they go from here. 

Kev Rowland, February 2026

Links:
http://www.lizardrecords.it/

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