AWEN TRIO “Awen”

ARTIST

Awen Trio

ALBUM TITLE

“Awen”

LABEL

Piuro Cultura Association

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Pasolini once said that poetry is like a rose – a carnal reference to the creative figure of the mother, but also an esoteric or alchemical symbol of perfection. Awen is poetry in the form of music, offered by a minimal trio that leads us on an initiatory journey in search of lost time. It is also a journey of rediscovery of the Gaelic language, which left important traces not only in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland but also in parts of northern Italy – Valchiavenna, Valtellina, and Valcamonica – where Celtic populations once settled in pre-Roman times. From there the path extends through ballads, traditional work songs, and festive songs still performed in Northern Europe today.

With Battaglia’s involvement, the project is never a cold or dutiful exercise in philology. Instead, it moves boldly between opposite poles: past and present, archaic and contemporary. We hear echoes of the Scandinavian improvisational scene, reimagined Romantic lieder, daring electro-folk passages, and abstract post-rock moments – as in Mo Nighean Donn. At times, there are even resonances of the late David Sylvian.

Some judicious cuts might have improved the pacing – a few tracks run overly long – yet the work as a whole is dreamlike, hypnotic, and evocative. Grounded in the magnetic allure of the word as signifier, it carries genuine weight in terms of research, results, and imaginative suggestion.

—Ivo Franchi

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