DELREI - Desolation and Radiation

A Closer Listen

The immediate association is with the spaghetti western scores of Ennio Morricone, but younger listeners may connect Desolation and Radiation with the music from Red Dead Redemption.  It’s no surprise that DELREI (Alessandro Mercanzin) is from Italy, as his music is soaked in cinematic tradition; the liner notes declare that the artist “avoids and embraces the clichés” of the music he loves.  This is a good thing, as it allows an access point for fans of the mini-genre without being mired in the past.

“Solitario” begins with a shimmer, then proceeds to patient percussion and languid guitar.  Such timbres recall other bands who have walked this road: Grails, Wolfhand, Rodeo, Murder by Death.  A shadowy figure emerges from an apocalyptic landscape; the sky is red and filled with dust.  A town is in need of saving, but will he be its salvation or its doom?  Vintage instruments, including 60s organ and synth, rustle around the background like civilians fleeing the impending duel.  An early high mark arrives in “Nowhere to Ride,” as Michele Tedesco’s trumpet lends a heroic tone to Mercanzin’s already noble bass.

While the album is wrapped in dramatic nostalgia, it also warns of a potential future.  The artist suggests that should technology fail, the old western landscape may re-emerge, which would make the album prescient rather than referential.  This “reverb-drenched wasteland” lies on the other side of environmental collapse and nuclear war.  As in so many post-apocalyptic scenarios (Road Warrior, The Stand), strong personalities will vie for power, and heroes and villains will emerge.  “Dusk,” populated by snares and a growing sense of menace, implies a confrontation at world’s end.  In its wake, the jaunty “Country” comes as a relief, far more “Rawhide” than “Unforgiven.”  One imagines the cavalry riding into town, the populace cheering, free drinks for all.  But then again, the beauty of this release is that listeners may invent their own plot lines.  Grand finale “Daydream” simultaneously suggests the imagination of the artist, listener and town.  Perhaps there is somewhere to ride after all.  (Richard Allen)