Label: Frontiers Music Srl.
Release date: 8/7/2020
Production: Lionville
Album length: 50.37 min
Genre: AOR/Melodic Rock
Rating: 8.5/10
Lionville are a (mostly) Italian outfit built around Stefano Lionetti, a composer, singer and guitarist from Genoa, with Swedish vocalist Lars Säfsund (Work Of Art, Enbound) also on board. “Magic Is Alive” is Lionville’s fourth studio effort, following the excellent “A World of Fools” (2017), which fans of melodic rock and AOR tunes welcomed with open arms. The high expectations are by no means misplaced. Italians, Swedes, and, well, the Japanese would make a third group, are known for being very good at making replicas. Lionville are a textbook case of AOR revivalism. The ever-present “shimmering” veils of synth curtains, holding down the background and a rich sonic volume for dynamic, flowing, summery guitar phrases, immediately signal that Lionville are deeply devoted to cherishing the findings and achievements of eighties rock, with a clearly accented nod to the pop trends of that time. Considering that the genre’s revival has been pretty strong for the last twenty years, even if it’s not in the focus of the masses (which is lucky in its own way), Lionville belong in the league of higher-quality musical projects, that is, bands of this kind who tackle a musical formula created forty years ago with tremendous conviction.
No one’s reinventing the wheel here. You’ve heard all of this before, back when the stuff was trendy, current and hot. But a musical recipe doesn’t go stale, you just have to use slightly different packaging for the recycling to catch fire. Lionetti is undoubtedly a talented composer who knows exactly how things need to sit in a song for it to grab you on first listen. This album has no shortage of bombast and pomp, and in terms of song quality and sticky, infectious musicality it’s at least as good as its predecessor “A World Of Fools”. Säfsund’s integration on vocals is tailor-made for the songwriting, and he very aptly brings into Lionville’s songwriting format everything he does with his voice in Work Of Art. It’s not hard to conclude – and this will be welcome info especially for those of you only now discovering Lionville – that individual parts of the songwriting may bring to mind, among others: Toto, Richard Marx, Giant, Bad English, Survivor, and also Honeymoon Suite and/or Boulevard.
Perhaps the very meaningful album title “Magic Is Alive” isn’t even surprising. In these strange times, when nobody knows what’s actually going on anymore, this album is a prime example of the excellent partnership between the building blocks of Lionville’s music. That is, its members. The combination of vocal duets from Säfsund and Lionetti hits the desired contrasts and shifts in mood, vocal harmonizing with extra backing vocals is definitely there, and the signature solos land in the mid-eight sections. In short, an album without a single dip in quality and a love letter to the golden age of AOR. Catchy, and even in 2020 still tickling in all the right places.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Tracklist:
01. Nothing Without You
02. You’re Not Alone
03. Runaway
04. Finally You’re With Me
05. Every Little Thing (Leads Back To You)
06. If You Don’t Know Me
07. Living With The Truth
08. Reaching For The Sky
09. I’ll Never Give My Heart Away
10. Into The Night
11. Magic Is Alive
Lineup:
Stefano Lionetti – guitar, vocals, keyboards
Lars Säfsund – vocals, backing vocals
Michele Cusato – guitar
Fabrizio Caria – piano, keyboards
Giulio Dagnino – bass guitar
Martino Malacrida – drums
