Federico Albanese

The Quiet Man

Release Notes

Label: Mercury KX
Release: Before And Now Seems Infinite
Date: February 25, 2022

federicoalbanese.com

I’ve got another awesome track premiere and album announcement for you from one of my favorite composers, Federico Albanese, whom I have covered on here before – check out his studio feature and my review of The Blue Hour from 2016. After a trio of successful releases on Neue Meister, the Italian composer and pianist gets signed to the mighty Mercury KX for eleven modern classical pieces making up an album he titled Before And Now Seems Infinite, to be released in February of 2022. Weaving in his beautiful piano playing with electronic and organic arpeggios, atmospheres, and orchestral textures, Albanese creates one of his most mature works to date, one that shimmers and sways in the breeze of our memories, triggering moments of recall which may have been false. Perhaps these words by the French novelist Marcel Proust quoted in the notes are appropriate for the underlying concept: “Remembrance of things past is not necessarily the remembrance of things as they were.” The track I’m premiering for you today, “The Quiet Main” is the first single from the album, and is inspired by Federico’s father. “In appearance perhaps not a quiet man, but he had a reserved side, which I never really understood, nor saw,” says Albanese, “We all have multiple personalities, some on the surface and others buried. My father was like that, or that’s the way my mind decided to remember him. The structure of the piece embodies this idea, with multiple layers, some more melodic, others more obsessive.” It’s a gem of a piece, from a gem of an album, which is something to look forward to from this dazzling composer.

There are multiple ways in which we perceive a memory. We might remember things from different angles and give them different meanings. I find it interesting to explore the instant where we decide how we are going to remember something. And music is the vehicle I use to find these moments, to hold them in time.

— Federico Albanese

An inspiring and beautiful tale, one which I can’t wait for you to adore. You’ll just have to wait until it drops in February. Meanwhile, you can enjoy this single, his past releases mentioned above, plus a soundtrack to the Twelve documentary from two years ago (my favorite piece is “The Stars We Follow”), and a 4-track collaborative EP with Irish/Norwegian singer-songwriter Tara Nome Doyle, titled The Moments We Keep (2021). Until then… the future seems infinite…