Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
It is an island in which so many seem to miss out on when exploring Southern Europe, the usual tourist traps of Rome, Barcelona, Naples, Valetta, all cities that bask within the Mediterranean sunshine and the feeling of the exotic, all play host not only to the physical but to the dreamers and the history pursuers.
It is almost unforgivable to think of Sardinia in any other way than offering a sense of culture to the Mediterranean diet, an island that sits in the sea, surrounded by other lands, other sets of people with their expressions and fabled ability to tell a tale, and yet can produce some as musically eloquent as Roberto Diana, that sound of beauty can carry beyond the imposed and be ignored by so many and yet those who take the time to witness the effect it can have on the soul, are forever blessed with innocence and charmed senses.
It is in that thought that Roberto Diana’s Raighes Vol 2 takes place. Raighes, the Sardinian for roots, is at the very centre, the romantic heartbeat that cuts through the swathes of disillusion and offers a scene of the noble picturesque, of the charmingly symbolic gesture that is both humble but also glamorous and colourful.
Five years after releasing the first volume of Raighes, Mr. Diana takes the step back into the familiar and sets the road straight again, one undoubtedly beset and flourished with the scenic concept and standing with pride in amongst the virtuoso’s instrumental heavenly outlook.
It is in tracks such as Screaming To The Moon, the mysterious feel of Walking In London, The Other Side of the Mountain, Her Sunshine Smile and the finale of Airport Dance that the album really invokes the sensuality and the beguiling, the first taste of summer rain which washes down the face after a time of dust and drought, in this Roberto Diana is the person to follow, for he understands just exactly where the spring is located and the chance to keep the head above any rain clouds that may threaten to burst over the seas surrounding our often troubled minds.
It is to feel at home, no matter the view, which makes Raighes Vol 2 such a delight, the homely, yet exotic, Sardinian sound is terrific and bound in riches, humble roots and uncluttered arrangements. A truly gifted performer, Roberto Diana once more takes us home.
Ian D. Hall