Sandro Perri – Impossible Spaces

Sandro Perri – best known for his work under the Polmo Polpo moniker – combines relaxing, intimate folk and long, meandering instrumental sections on this, his second full-length under his own name. There's a problem, though – it finds itself sitting uncomfortably between standard easy-listening and difficult improvisational sprawl.

 

Perri is a calculated vocalist; everything he lays down is solid and charming enough despite lacking its own true sense of character. His multi-instrumentalist tendencies shine through more, with Perri himself laying down a large chunk of the performance duties. It's an admirable and ambitious move, but it often ends up being messy – the odd, wonky use of synths on opener Changes being a prime example, foreshadowing the rest of this record's over-packed nature.

 

There are some genuinely pleasant moments here – How Will I and Love & Light sound warm and smooth because they're more carefully arranged; other songs (like the ten-minute Wolfman) might have benefitted from a simpler approach.