The Final Cut?
In the three years since Nosound’s last studio album, bandleader Giancarlo Erra has taken a solo diversion into the world of ambient music. Prog uncovers the emotional story behind his new release, Departure Tapes, and finds out what the future holds for his main group.
Words: Mike Barnes
Nosound’s Giancarlo Erra released his debut solo album, Ends, in 2019 and for the follow-up he had “a very general idea to do something that was different” from its neo-classical chamber feel. But after it was released he found out that his father, from whom he’d been largely estranged since the age of 14, was terminally ill with cancer and so he began flying back and forth to visit him in Italy. It was while they were re-establishing their relationship, Erra started the music that makes up Departure Tapes.
“It was just a way for me to cope with a situation that wasn’t easy,” he explains via Zoom from his home in Norwich. “After a few months I had written several songs and I realised that there was a kind of connection, which is why I thought it made sense to try and make an album of this just for myself, just to make something good out of it.”
Erra uses the word ‘songs’ rather loosely, as apart from occasional wordless vocalising, the album is purely instrumental. So is it easier to convey such a personal subject matter without the lyrics that he uses with Nosound?