In general, the artists I like the most are those who surprise you when they release new material. I have never been very fond of repeating formulas in art. I still have the previous album by dXI, Submerged, in my head (a great work, by the way), and although you can feel that there is a common thread, Illusioni di cinema comes from a different place, with different artistic intentions.
On the surface, Illusioni di cinema could be taken as a lo-fi beats record, but it does not stop there. To me, it is a hauntological work. There is something deeply spectral about it, possibly achieved through the samples chosen and a fairly homogeneous mix of frequencies that recalls old recordings. It is very difficult for me not to find similarities with works like those of The Caretaker. It gives me the exact same feeling as the track It's Just a Burning Memory, which today is already a classic of hauntological music.
I think the entire album is incredible. If I had to mention a few tracks, I would probably say that Onírica is one of my favorites, where the boom bap dissolves almost completely and we are left trapped in another time, among old films. Sfuggendo via also hit me incredibly hard. It was the first track I heard from the album through the promotional video, which is also absolutely worth watching. This one has a very catchy beat that slowly dissolves in a delicious way around the middle of the track, as if sinking into water.
All the samples were taken from Italian films from the 60s and 70s. Despite the Mediterranean air that can be felt throughout the music, that salty summer flavor, I would say that the work evokes a nostalgia without borders, even a timeless one. In the second half of the album, starting with Al di sotto, the album turns towards more experimental electronics, where the exploration of the samples is somewhat abandoned and the experience becomes more sonic and textural, even touching darkness.
In conclusion, I think Illusioni di cinema is a brutal album. It is incredibly difficult to find a balance between the experimental, the hauntological and the accessibility of the work, and dXI achieves it successfully. I recommend it to everyone. Listening to it is a deeply rich and enjoyable experience. It is an album I will definitely come back to.
