Luca Formentini - Scintilla (2018)

In a way, Scintilla hits the reset button on Formentini's approach to music. The new collection is a solitary investigation, a private walk through intense and yet delicate emotional landscapes. Some of the ideas date back as far as 2008. Formentini would pick them up at opportune moments and work on them in his own time, playing and recording all the instruments at home – with the exception of some field recordings and piano.

As could be expected, many of the pieces explore the polarity between the private and the public. Duende" and "Density of Light", for example, were realised in the studio of his friend Stefano Castagna, who wasn't aware a recording was taking place. Accordingly, the sounds of doors, steps and typewriting discretely merge with Formentini's piano sounds. "To the Seer", on the other hand, is part of a project Formentini has been working on for years: "It's about the way people visiting a museum react to the volume of the rooms and to the works of art on display", he explains, "I like catching the sound of people getting lost, disturbed or challenged while approaching strong works of personal expression. On "To the Seer", for example, I caught someone saying that the place is more beautiful than the artworks in it."

Scintilla translates to sparkle. According to Formentini, it relates to the "small, spontaneous and out of control tiny flashes of light that appear here and there in our lives. it's about using them to help us track our journey, to help us chose our direction." But of course, one could also understand the word to mean something more literal, the flame to a new chapter. Either way, one thing's for sure: This time, the fire is sure to keep burning for a whole lot longer.