We’re once again thrilled to find ourselves on the receiving end of work from Australian artist/composer Galliano Sommavilla. We’ve had the pleasure of reviewing quite a few of his prior works, most recently the “smooth and tasteful exercise in genre combinations” single titled Ponder This.
Today, we’ve got our ears on another easy listening exploration through sound – another instrumental from one of our all-time favorite instrumentalists – this one titled The Homecoming.
This single is taken from Galliano’s previously released 14 track album Welcome to my side of the World (2013). He has plans to rerelease this album later this year with new mixes – a “tune-up”, in his words. If the rest of this album is remixed to sound anything like this particular single, we’ll all be in for a treat. This track is a dramatic, thought-provoking, cinematic listening experience from start to finish that grabs the listener from the first measures and doesn’t let go – a trait we’ve come to expect in the music from Galliano.
The Homecoming opens with dramatic synths and gentle guitar, joined by intermittent percussion that is so distinctly reminiscent of ocean waves rolling into shore. It conjures images of a warm evening drive, or of looking out over a fantastic landscape. Interestingly, instead of a slow build to a peak like most songs are apt to do, this track starts somewhere in the middle and heads downward, towards something simpler and slower. This actually makes it feel like the song is working towards a conclusion just before the 2:00 mark.
Suddenly the tide changes, and with a crash of a cymbal and the introduction of melodic, somber keys, we’re moving in another direction. The strings beneath the main melody change only just slightly, enough to know that something is different but not quite enough to know where we’re heading.
It takes until the introduction of a bit of percussion at 2:56 to realize things are shifting into a more urgent, driving rhythm. The added beat is incredibly modern underneath what has up to this point been fairly dramatic and thespian music. This change adds a completely different angle to the track, despite the fact that it’s almost the only thing that has changed as the song moves forward repeating some of the previous melodic sections.
The new drumbeat stays with us as we go further, and the build is slow and intentional – never getting too big for itself or overcrowding the listener with ambient sounds, as many in this genre are apt to do. Galliano explores new melodies and phrasings slowly, working them in one at a time so they blend seamlessly with the existing tapestry that is this song.
At 5:19 the saxophone (which we received just a taste of in the very beginning) returns again to a more prominent position, taking over the final two minutes of the track. Just one instrument addition once again manages to change the tone of the entire song, perhaps helping to shake off just a bit of the air of melancholy that has permeated it from the start. And that’s where he leaves us, the final few minutes taking on a more uplifted, bright tone that evokes feelings of transformations, of sunrises, of internal awakenings – as the song slowly fades away behind us.
That’s one of the most wonderful things about Galliano’s music – it is always reminding us of things, just vaguely enough to put the image in your head, before pulling back and allowing you to wander and fill in all the gaps. It’s a unique gift to be able to give people – the ability to call personal images to mind simply through the power of sound. The Homecoming is yet another gorgeous testimony to Galliano Sommavilla‘s phenomenal production and writing skills. This might seem like a lot to write about one single song, but trust us when we say the beauty and complexity of this music makes it so very easy – one listen through his work yourself, and you’ll understand what we mean.
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BELOW: Listen to The Homecoming, and connect with his website and social media platforms. Please support Galliano Sommavilla by visiting him online, and playing, downloading, and/or purchasing his music, or attending a live show! And, as always, thank you for supporting real music!
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