Sweet Smell of Shining – Beyond Waterfalls

Album review by wayoutwest@thesoundofconfusion.com

We are happy to introduce you to the Sweet Smell Of Shining, an indie-rock/Britpop band located well across the channel - all the way over in Italy. The band also has dreampop, classic rock and shoegaze influences. Earlier on, we included one track from this band in our 'Dreamgaze Kickstart' playlist. 2013 saw the release of the band's debut album 'Beyond Waterfalls', loaded with 10 tracks. Sweet Smell of Shining's latest album features Marco Ciardelli (vocals), Masimiliano Piccagli (guitars, vocals, programming, drum machine) and Alessio Osculati (bass, programming). For this release, the trio collaborated with Ireland-based Stillscreen (electric guitar) on five tracks.

All tracks on the album were written from 2010 to 2013 (with the exception of 'Earth Angel'), during which time the band were largely engaged in gigging and touring. Once they headed into the studio, they dedicated an entire month to producing the music you hear on this album, which is a worthy listen.

Particularly memorable are 'Sorrow' and 'Homeward Journey'. The first offers a mixed blend of indie noise-rock - something resembling a mélange of Jesus & Mary Chain, Oasis, and mid-career Depeche Mode. In the second track, SSS brings us into Jesus & Mary Chain territory, with a style recalling their album 'Stoned and Dethroned' (with Hope Sandoval), but here, the vocals on this love song are all male.

  

They've also included Marvin Berry's 'Earth Angel' on the album and it is evident that they love classic rock & roll, which is reflected in the song structure on several other tracks. The song comes off well, even injected with a dreamy Britpop aspect. This album is available on Bandcamp on a name-your-price basis. Sweet Smell of Shining’s previous EP is also available on a different Bandcamp page and Stillscreen's work is available here.

Sweet Smell of Shining's website

Stillscreen's website

Stream or buy the album





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