ANANDAMMIDE – Eura (2024, LP Sulatron Records) 

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Sulatron Records

Format: LP, Album, Limited Edition, 140 gram, (comes with a white inner sleeve in a gatefold cover), Black Vinyl

Format: CD, Album

Release Date: 5 April 2024

Anandammide is a psychedelic folk project led by Michele Moschini, featuring musicians from Italy, France, England, and Sweden. “Eura” is the follow-up album to their debut 2020’s “Earthly Paradise” released through Sulatron Records. Let’s take a look at the label’s press release:

“Anandammide is a Psychedelic Folk project based in Paris and led by the Italian singer-songwriter Michele Moschini. It all started in Paris, where Michele has lived since 2007. Coming from the Italian rock, prog and psychedelic scene (he’s been the singer of Italian progressive band Floating State for a decade, releasing an album in 2003 on Lizard Records and taking part in a King Crimson’s tribute album released on Mellow Records), in 2018 he gathered a few musicians from a British-French community orchestra. The debut album, “Earthly Paradise” (2020, Lizard Records) has been acclaimed by critics. 

Almost four years later, Anandammide releases a new album, EURA, featuring musicians from France, England, Italy and Sweden, most of them also appearing on Earthly Paradise. Lisa Isaksson from Me and my Kites and Lisa o Piu sings on three songs, while two old friends, Lelio Mulas and Lorenzo Castigliego from Italy play bass and electric guitar. This new album is less acoustic than the first one; the medieval and baroque influences are less present and the lyrics have abandoned the existential speculations to focus on the abiliy of man for self-destruction.

Even the search for love loses its meaning, but the four-eyed girl from a late sixties drawing by Dino Buzzati hung on the wall in the parents’ house still remains the symbol of the ideal woman. Her name is EURA”…

Michele Moschini is on vocals, guitars, synth, organ, drums, and the other musicians that take part in “Eura” are Lisa Isaksson (vocals), Audrey Moreau (flute), Stella Ramsden (violin & reading), Sébastien Grignon (cello), Lelio Mulas (bass), Pascal Vernin (bass), and Lorenzo Castigliego (guitar). “Eura” is recorded in Montmartre and several other places in France, Sweden, and Italy. The album contains 5 songs on each side of the LP, 10 in total, and it kicks off with “Carmilla”, starting under a cool neo-folkie environment, this multi-cultural European band slowly unfolds its skills – introducing themselves – presenting a trippy Medieval-styled folkie psych tune… Under the same ease and slow neo-psychedelic cloak “A Song Of Creed” starts, but now there’s a lot of “Acid” spread into the atmosphere, while the band generously flirts with Progressive, Lisa lends her mellow and warm voice, and of course that “characteristic” Medieval-inspired aura is all over the track, a wonderful song indeed, and one of my favorites. “Post Atomic Reverie” indicates a marvelous Flute, a super cool melody, warm charming vocals, a Medieval folkie background, and with the excellent use of the cello/violin along with the acoustic guitar, all these together result in another Neo-Prog-Psych-Folkie tune, a one deeply inspired by the early 70s British Folk movement… “Phantom Limb” shows a more poppy aspect of the band’s FOLKIE trademark sound, though the background is a combination of Psych and Prog elements, and of course without getting far away from the band’s British influences… “I am A Flower” is a fantastic cool piece of neo-psychedelic Folk, starting as kind of a balladesque tune sooner to become more Proggy but in a very astonishing hypnotic folkie way… Cool! Side “B” opens with the self-titled “Eura”, Lisa, and her beautiful ethereal voice shine all over this acoustic Neo-Folk gem, a track that equally flirts with Folk-Psych and Prog-Folk. Another favorite is the next one called “The Orange Flood”, an acoustic guitar along with a magical flute is creating a Psych-influenced song, a fantastic piece of some cool relaxing neo-folkie Psych-a-Delia… “Lullaby n.2” is another folkie tune with a rather proggy environment while “Dream n.1” flirts with Prog and Neo-Folk under an acoustic scenery with a brilliant but eerie “effected” ending… The album comes to an end with “The Anchorite”, there’s Folk that acoustically blends with Prog, with Psych, creating an enchanting Folkie balladesque song… So, feel free to enter Anandammide’s magical world of another era, the experience is really invigorating! Get it! TimeLord Michalis  

Tracklist

Links:

Listen through ANANDAMMIDE Bandcamp

Visit ANANDAMMIDE Facebook

Get the album via SULATRON RECORDS Web

Alternatively, get it via SHINY BEAST Mailorder