Sock Free Hideaway

 BEATS OF LOVE 

4. Wishing Star by Leo Almunia

IT'S NOT every day that the artists who created one of your favourite albums (Pulsar) fly into town to play a show, but that's what Leonardo Ceccanti did with his ever smiling Almunia partner Gianluca Salvadori in 2013 for SFH. We put lots of love in the air that Wednesday evening and it gave me the insurmountable task of eclipsing it, which, in truth, I haven't been able to do.

Other than some bits and pieces, they've sunk off the radar in the UK, so I was happy to hear the ever discerning Claremont 56 was releasing a solo LP, Minor Circle, by Leo. The best British label in the world. Happier still when I heard the sound-clips, and now truly ecstatic to finally get this sun-drenched goodness on the stereo. The same personnel as said album; Paul Murphy mixing, Mark Warrington's superb artwork, and Leo overseeing almost everything else, sadly minus Gianluca, produces another veritable masterpiece. An eight-year hiatus is a long-time, even by Howard Hughes standards, but this is well worth any wait.

Those sorely missed guitar strings of every persuasion are so damned hot and still stretch out for miles and miles. Even veritable masterpieces have their highlights; Abbey Road's Here Comes the Sun, Back in Denim's The Osmonds, or Mystery to Me's Hypnotized, and Leo's LP is no exception as this song attests.   

Somewhat swampier than the duo's past classics, but still crystalline enough to shine plenty of light and depth into the listening experience. Equal parts, dubby, atmospheric, and spacey, with top marks production from start to finish, make this another epic musical journey, the highlight of which is most reminiscent of glories past.

Less swampy, with the guitars as light as a souffle omelette, it breezes along majestically and in passages even soars into the sky. Tomorrow, I could easily write similar words about the closer, but today that sounds more condensed and slightly less moving, and epic. Moving, and epic, or a sublime psychedelic sunshine minstrel tune, I'm as confused as the next man. Call it anything but nu-fucking-disco, I guess. All I know is this album is truly great, and this song is greater still. The high place is revisited.  

Welcome back Leo, and I hope some promoter has both the sense and promotional nous to put on some top UK shows. I'll be there for sure, plucking my imaginary guitar strings, tunelessly, to your wondrous music. 

LISTEN : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuWfv7Umbxg