Diego Sandrin – A Fine Day Between Addictions / 2007 Self / 13 Tracks / http://www.diegosandrin.com /
For those individuals that have to have pretty much any punk recording, the name Diego Sandrin will be familiar. She was the mastermind behind the Italian punk group Ice and the Iced. Other individuals may know Sandrin for the fact that Lisa Marie Presley included a song that she wrote with Sandrin on her album “To Whom It May Concernâ€. There seems to be a pretty good buzz behind this album already, as the Sony Vaio line has chosen one of the tracks from “A Fine Day Between Addictions†– “Sammy’s Farm†– to be loaded on their computers.
The question comes up: “Is the album as good as it sounds on paper?†Simply put, the answer is yes. “Blanket†Is the first track on the album, and while the style of the music present is not qualitatively different from any of the singer-songwriter rock that has came out in the last decade, the soulful sounds of Sandrin’s vocals really will make individuals think of a John Mellencamp or a Bob Dylan. The fact that the arrangements on this track can be so Spartan and yet still carry listeners to the end of the song shows the ability of Sandrin, as well as bringing individuals to the second track, “From Music To Nothingâ€. “From Music To Nothing†has more in the way of instrumentation creating the net with which the vocals can rest, but the focal point of the track remains on Sandrin’s vocals. The vocals this time change in style slightly, moving towards more of a Chris Isaak type of sound than anything.
The use of a second vocal layer during the track gives the song a full sound that differentiates it from the rest of the tracks on the disc. This bodes well for Sandrin, as it becomes hard to fall into a rut when one is continually shifting the styles present on an album as Sandrin does on “A Fine Day Between Addictionsâ€. The second set of vocals continue during “Bad Gracesâ€, and the hopeful sound of each set of vocals during this track continue the same solid sound that has graced the previous tracks on the album. Even when Sandrin slows things down, as is the case during “45,000,000 and Oneâ€, the clarity and smooth sound of his vocals will ensure that listeners stick with the disc. Sandrin will be the next big thing when it comes to emotional, guitar-led pop music; listen to a “Faulty Mind†or “Pigeons†and I can ensure that one will become a fan.
Top Tracks: Pretty Angel, Pigeons
Rating: 6.5/10
I love this album! The sound is warm and round, the vocals and the instrumental parts are complementary, they chase each other, they play together, they even fall into a constructive contradiction, although, from time to time, a sound, a noise, a mood, a word escapes from the given path and creates a story of its own. I was lucky enough to get to see the cover and the booklet of A fine day between addictions. It tells a lot about the people that worked on this project. A whole world, Venice’s mists (I case somebody is wondering, Sandrin lives near Venice), emotions and dreams, downfalls and redemptions… It did cast a spell on me and it will not be broken so easily.