During 2008, the recording works of Missing Over You, Tunnel FX's debut album, reached physical concreteness, which represents the synthesis of a long training and self-awareness path, which started from emulation and culminated in the unprecedented creation.
weakness it is the piece which is entrusted with the responsibility of opening the disc and since its opening it declares without any hesitation the tutelary deities of the authors: the reference to the Irish U2 is evident, both in the sounds and in the progress of harmony and melody. Musical development is charged with an emotional value aimed at captivating the listener, plus the crescendo, well constructed in the interweaving of voice and music, thrills without exasperating any pathetic accent.
With Mistery, second track of the album, the driving accent of the composition changes, becomes sharper and less introspective; one perceives a greater complacency of an eminently rock nature. The voice proceeds in an exciting and equally captivating way turns out to be the initial riff that returns and connotes the song. However, harmony is without particular elements of originality. In reaction to this stagnant accent, the variation element is set in the central section.
Your soul by my side it opens with not particularly interesting elements of quite original noise; moreover, the first intervention of the guitar has a sound that seems synthetic, almost plastic. The voice knows how to make use of the experience of Planet Funk while the musical mixture is not alien to the dark tradition even of heavier inspiration. The musical warp proposed at minute one and twenty-four is very interesting and guessed: as for the guitars, both in the intertwining of the acoustics and in the melodic intervention of the electric, you can hear the Genesis; a clean and clear element which is counterbalanced by the more modern and vigorous bass. The development of the piece is much more exciting than its opening. Some uncertainty in the second half of the piece about the reliability of the voice; excellent atmosphere of the ending created by the guitars.
A bright and joyful atmosphere is perceived in the beginning of Talking Back, fourth track of the disc which, in its construction of chords and melody, can only propose a result of medium interest: too melodic for a disc of this kind.
Below our listening is cheered by Game Over, a piece with an expanded and wide-ranging atmosphere. The voice, almost incoherent with the background constructed by the instruments, seems to move to the limit of its possibilities. U2, Simple Minds are listened to, especially in the crystalline sounds of the guitar; the occasional digital inserts are certainly guessed but a bit trivial. The song does not have a clear personality and is slightly tiring.
The sounds that make up the beginning of are too rarefied and not very incisive I've Seen Enough, piece number six of the album, in which the deep bond with Bono Vox's band is revealed once again. The trend, despite the suggestive and much guessed effects, is too lacking in originality to be captivating and, unfortunately, the central variation, built with digital sounds and more bad guitar riffs, rather than creating tension only causes estrangement. The song does not excite.
Red shoes, seventh song of the disc, has a beginning that suggests a wide opening, full of energy and volume; however, the harmonic evolution leads to unexpected disturbing results underlined by the power chord of the guitar which becomes more aggressive and cutting than the usual bright and transparent sound. The progress of the piece, rich in melody and rhythmic charge, can be exhausting, despite the fact that everything is very well played and conceived.
More Than I opens by painting before our eyes a scenario of desolation and frost, as if to describe the sense of loss of the individual forced to face the paradoxes of existence. Unfortunately, and I reiterate unfortunately, a section that is too linked to U2 follows a crescendo a little to itself. The connection with the Irish band, omnipresent and undeniable throughout the album, knows a certain exasperation here. The atmospheres are well built and cared for but too poo original.
Really guess the acoustic guitars backing the start of the ninth song, In My heart, and which, present along the entire progression of the melody, participate in a personal and passionate emotional construct. The music is undoubtedly central, the sounds and their intertwining are excellent; the less convincing is the voice, not as exciting as the high level of the instrumental part.
The tenth track of the disc, sweeter, in its initial rhythmic, aggressive, dry gait, is practically identical to what we hear in the incipit of Am I Wry No (Mew, "Frangers", 2003) but less incisive. The voice is too present compared to the music which, as in the whole album, is always very well played. The song, melodic and captivating, has all the connotations of the hit single.
Wait for the Sun, intense eleventh piece of the album, seems to be functional to absorb a certain emotional relaxation: perfect for that moment that follows a relevant episode, an intense experience. It is the musical construct that accompanies the individual on his return home; which frames the dawn of a new day, different from the previous one only in terms of the light in the eyes of those who never sleep.
Similar to many pieces of the musical tradition between the eighties and the nineties is the cantato that opens track number twelve, Self Assured, which is followed by an impressive musical gash that he remembers very closely Any Other Name, a piece by the American composer of film music T. Newman. The subsequent trend of the piece marks a certain creative tiredness of the group and undoubtedly follows the progression we had already known with Mistery (track number two on the disc). The resemblance to U2 sometimes becomes annoying and some sound effects seem to be used inappropriately.
Original and interesting is the incipit of Miss you a piece that, with its articulation fully immersed in contemporary reality, stuck to modern times of cultural fusion and cosmopolitanism (sometimes perverse in its approximation), declares all the love of FX tunnel for the music listened to and played. Excellent piece, beautiful to listen to and very pleasant also because it is less dragged than its other brothers (sometimes too drawn for long).
Intense and introspective Funny day, in the rarefied and icy atmospheres, perfectly constructed from usual sounds chosen with taste and refined musical sense, it is a song very connected to what Matt Elliott made us listen to on records like Drinking Songs. A sense of deep sadness with which the disc ends.
This album was undoubtedly conceived through a great work on the sounds, especially in the guitars section and on the development of the single pieces; awareness of the use of sound sources and effects is perceived. However there is a constant lack of duration of the songs, often long and moreover full of different moments that compromise the peculiar character of the single pieces, no longer particular but similar to each other.
THE BOARD:
Missing Over You
FX tunnel
Label: Primula Records
1. Weakness (4:28)
2. Mysteries (4:53)
3. Your Soul By My Side (4:35)
4. Talking Back (3:37)
5. Game Over (5:19)
6. I've Seen Enough (5:18)
7. Red Shoes (4:18)
8. More Than I (5:15)
9. In My Heart (4:37)
10.Sweeter (4:27)
11. Wait for the Sun (4:14)
12. Self Assured (5:13)
13. Miss You (3:37)
14. Funny Day (6:31)
