Ezio: This Is The Day
"This Is The Day" is the latest release from Cambridge-born Ezio Lunedei and long time collaborator, Kenyan Mark 'Booga' Fowell on guitar. Also featuring on this, their sixth studio album, are Lars Plogschties on drums and Marcus Praed on bass. With over twenty years of playing live and touring and releasing albums, Ezio have built up a loyal following with their clever song writing and tight sound.
The album opens with the lo-fi 'A Small Dream' which is a subtle, song, sung to a quiet backing of guitar and piano. The lyrics are light and the overall feel is tight. I was a bit worried at this point as I wondered if the rest of the album would just be a collection of songs following the same pattern as the first. Not that that would be entirely wrong, though it would be annoying that the bands songwriting wouldn't be tested. Luckily, though the album does have some similar laid back tracks, there are also some fun and catchy interludes. There are some very well constructed ballads, humorous lyrics and clever arrangements on such tracks as 'Bicycle', 'Supermarkets' and the title track 'This Is The Day'.
The listener is kept interested with the changes of mood and tempo between tracks and there's even a bit of rock with the song 'Bad Bad Place' which stands out from the rest with its bluesy, twangy guitar and fuzzy riffs.
There's plenty of modern folk here though the album can become a little understated at times. The album may well have fared better and had a better balance if the band experimented a bit more with dirtier sounds and a bit more rock as they have shown that they are capable of and typified on the songs 'Bad Bad Place' and the rockier 'The One And Only One'. These tracks do just enough to keep the album together. Overall, it's an interesting mix of songs and styles and the stripped down, unplugged sound is pleasing without becoming too tedious. The branching out with a bit of rock-tinged melody helps enormously and the lyric writing is quite admirable