In A Lonely Place…
Carla Dal Forno’s songs recall the stripped-back post-punk of Young Marble Giants, in which songs resemble uncovered timepieces; clockwork innards exposed. Carla has the same quality of fragility, songs with no hiding spaces, secrets revealed. These songs are fuzzy, lo-fi and teetering on the point of dissolution. With echoing drums and dolorous bass, these are songs shrouded in funeral veils.
However, these intricacies are welded to a Tangerine Dream sensibility of imposing synth soundscapes. Not the albums of T-Dream mind you, but the Hollywood soundtracks… closer to the existential drama of Sorcerer or the eerie atmospherics of The Keep. This suggests loneliness and Carla’s sense of place within an unforgiving environment. Desolation fascinates as we seek to learn more.
This merging of styles is fascinating, at the same time she is both exposing and mystifying her songs. Attitudes collide to make a pained dilemma of intent. Confusion over direction leaves the listener lost. We worry for as her isolated voice drifts. This dissonance demands attention.
The two songs that comprise her debut EP are tales from this fractured place. Churning, uncomfortable poems. Dreamlike fugues become visceral. Emotions turn tangible.
‘Fast Moving Cars’ wallows on the same beach as the Bunnymen’s ‘Heaven Up Here’, neck-deep in mud. Bass rumbles deep. Entropy holds sway. ‘Better Yet’ lurches, confinement in a dank underground hell hole. Carla sheds skin then evaporates…
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