London, 2018

 

Michele Giacobbe is an Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist. His latest album, Hue of Indigo and Blue, combines elements of ambient, new-age and world music, as well as contemporary classical. In an Oldfieldian fashion, Giacobbe composed and recorded more than fifty different instruments, developing a project both challenging and musically captivating.

 

Hue of Indigo and Blue feels like a soundtrack to an imaginary film, full of vivid images and references. The album is rich in influences; from the universe of J.R.R. Tolkien—bringing us impressions of fantasy and mythical lands—to sonic choices and instrumentations that relate to the sci-fi world and Eastern cultures. Giacobbe talks about a journey from East to West with a multiplicity of colours; which is not only illustrated by the amount of musical ideas, but also by the diversity of instruments—including the use of Asian instruments in Mono No Aware.

 

The title track Hue of Indigo and Blue refers directly to new-age music. The dramatic strings of Lux et tenebris, Restless Heart and Mabon are a direct allusion to the American screen music of the last twenty years. Silver Trees and Beneath the Yellow Sea bring us back to the birth of electronic music. Lament of the Righteous and Love on the Wall join elements of sacred and medieval music, and relate to the works of Tolkien. Some of my favourites pieces of the album are the dramatically cinematographic Buried Embers and Ancestral.

 

Hue of Indigo and Blue holds a very interesting concept, with a plethora of musical ideas and instrumental explorations. It is a pity that the production did not benefit from more support, which would have made this release even stronger. Having said that, Giacobbe leads us on an evocative journey—bringing both feelings of gentleness and intensity, of calmness and anxiousness—and pleases the curious melomane, as well as the educated musician.