Italian pianist, producer, and composer Dardust unveils a beautifully immersive sound throughout Urban Impressionism. The album’s deluxe edition released earlier this month, and coincides with the commencement of a European tour. Drawing inspiration from brutalist architecture and pictorial impressionism, Dardust excels with dynamic piano-playing that spans from lushly understated to orchestral-touched intensity. This fantastic deluxe edition arrives with six new tracks, four of which were previously unreleased.
“Urban Impressionism” opens the album with gorgeous, trickling piano work — resembling a flowing water current that swells with powerful clarity. “Mon Coeur, Béton Brut” follows with a more elegant disposition initially, then alternating between brisk piano traversals and string-laden majesty. Between the opener’s dreamily inviting piano tones and the eclectic tonal ferocity within “Mon Coeur, Béton Brut,” it doesn’t take long for the album to showcase its quality musicianship and spirited tonal dynamics.
A multitude of highlights continue throughout. “Impression, Skyline” struts a wintry soundscape in its delicate piano work, with slight footstep-like rhythms adding with sporadic enjoyment; the final minute is especially enveloping as glistening piano embraces those snippet-like rhythmic complements. “The Art of Falling” is another highlight, immersing especially in gorgeous synth additions reminiscent of Philip Glass’ synth-laden minimalism.
In addition to these original successes are six new tracks, released with this deluxe edition. “New York 17.3.24” is amongst them, featuring multi-instrumentalist and producer Ze in the Clouds. A reflective piano-set atmosphere, melancholic and reflective, arises there — while the preceding “Hazey Romance” invokes a Ryuichi Sakamoto-like glow in its gorgeously intermingling piano lines and orchestral effects. The deluxe edition of Urban Impressionism is a masterful display in songwriting and musicianship from Dardust.
Dardust is performing the album throughout his current European tour. Upcoming dates are below:
29 March – Paris @L’Archipel
31 March – Brussels @Bozar
1 April – Hamburg @Nachtasyl
2 April – Berlin @Colosseum
3 April – Prague @Conservatoire Hall
6 April – Utrecht @ TivoliVredenburg – Cloud Nine
8 April – London @Hoxton Hall
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“Hazey Romance” is also featured in the genre-based, best-of Spotify compilation Rainy Days and Late Night Drives.
We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
