Barbieri, Richard - Hauntings

Richard Barbieri remains one of contemporary music's most distinctive voices.

Emerging as a key architect of the late '70s/'80s synthesiser revolution with David Sylvian's art-rock ensemble, Japan, his visionary synthesiser programming expanded the horizons of electronic music & left a lasting mark on artists from "The Human League" & "Duran Duran" to "Gary Numan" & "Talk Talk". His subsequent & ongoing tenure with Steven Wilson's legendary progressive outfit "Porcupine Tree" across albums such as 'In Absentia' (2002), 'Fear Of A Blank Planet' (2007) & most recently, 'Closure/Continuation' (2022) further affirmed his status as one of the most intuitive & unique musicians of his generation.

Hauntings is Barbieri's first studio album since 2021's 'Under A Spell', deepening the pensive, dark instrumental aesthetic of its predecessor. A diverse collection of immersive sound worlds, both dark & uplifting in equal measure, Hauntings is influenced by a nostalgia for the past & future & for things that didn't happen yet still manage to haunt the mind & soul. What is real & what is simulation?

The album finds Barbieri at the height of his powers, his deft keyboard & sonic architecture conjuring a shadowy, creeping Lovecraftian atmosphere. The music wanders through the streets of a gloomy lamp-lit Victorian London & drifts into grain-speckled snapshots of Belle Epoque Paris. These journeys into the past are contrasted with nihilistic but euphoric forays into the future, "Traveler" & "A New Simulation" bristling with the itchy modern anxiety that often runs through his best work. Contrasting the sound designs & electronics of Barbieri, the album features performances from renowned musicians Morgan Agren (drums & percussion), Percy Jones (bass guitar) & Luca Calabrese (trumpet).