REVIEW: Eloisa Manera Ensemble’s “Invisible Cities”

For some odd reason, parts of hearing Invisible Cities (Aut) reminds mE of parts of the 1970’s film Midnight Express where some elements sound foreign yet very close by. Some of it sounds very classical and jazzy, then it gets locked into a nice funk that forces me to go “well damn, I want to stay in this place” before it drifts off into a place I’ve never been to before. If I am to judge the music based on the credits alone, it does go everywhere: double bass, electric bass, cumbus bouzuki, recorders, ewi: one is still unsure of where the music goes but you want to stay in and see where it takes you. It has that incidental feel where it is just music with the right visuals missing or perhaps this is what it is meant to be, a soundtrack to a mental eyeful.

Even after reading the liner notes which explain the theme of the songs (i.e. a series of cities, each with female names), you’ll want to hear it once more and see if you can sense what Manera tried to do with this concept, or simply listen to it based on the song titles alone. Either way, Invisible Cities is a journey to places that you’d like to see but can only imagine if you wish to do so.