There are some artists whose names may not ring a bell, yet they've been plying their trade on the music scene for ages. Andrea Orlando began waving his sticks in the early 1990s with dark prog band Malombra, before going on to work with RPI heavyweights such as Finisterre and La Coscienza di Zeno, and playing live since 1999 with Genesis tribute band Real Dream, or more recently with La Maschera di Cera.
Already the author of a first (and excellent) album in 2017, "Dalla Vita Autentica", he returns in 2023 with "La Scienza Delle Stagioni", accompanied by a plethora of artists from the Italian scene. Andrea Orlando is not only a skilled drummer, he also plays a whole panoply of keyboards and, above all, is an inspired composer. The seven tracks he invites us to discover have in common their beautiful musicality: melodious, romantic, delicate, inventive, flowing, so many qualifiers that characterize them. Andrea Orlando uses Genesis or Yes techniques (without sounding like them) in a complex alchemy between the place given to each performer (vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass and drums sharing space equally), the acoustic/electric balance of power and the alternation of slow and fast themes. He also manages to blend the finesse of the 70s with more contemporary sounds.
In addition to two instrumental tracks (the dynamic 'City 40' and 'Il Sogno di Anastasia (parte seconda)', with its camel-like "The Snow Goose" flavour), the sung tracks give way to long instrumental tracks on which melancholy pianos, dynamic basses, pop organs, 70's synths, twirling drums and airy guitars intertwine. Meghi Moschino (Quanah Parker) provides the female vocals in Italian. Her soft, graceful mid-range timbre perfectly matches the romantic atmosphere heralded by the pretty cover, and she knows just how to find the right chink in the song to thrill the listener ('Stagione Lontana').
If we had to find a slight flaw, the three longest tracks end with unsightly fade-outs that leave a taste of unfinished business. Nevertheless, with its melancholic, symphonic progressiveness, "La Scienza Delle Stagioni" has everything it takes to seduce fans of refined rock. Andrea Orlando is an inspired artist whose albums are a joy to listen to.