Dperd are an enigma. In a time of internet saturation they almost don’t exist. I used a popular search engine that rhymes with floogle to research them and came up with nothing, nada . Just a suggestion that I meant Speed. I eventually found them on Facespace and got some info. Even this wasn’t easy. I like that. If you are gonna be an Italian Darkwave Duo making ethereal dreamy music don’t splash it all over the place. Dperd come from Enna in Italy and comprise of Valeria Buono -Voice and Keyboards and Carlo Disimone – Keys, guitars , bass, percussion and cello (busy boy). To make matters more interesting all but 2 of the 10 songs are in Italian , a language I have little knowledge aside from some swearing I learned from a mate at school (cheers Stefano) and stuff from Roman mob movies. My ignorance creates a unique listening pleasure as this is no grunted death metal. With no knowledge of the lyrical content the voice of Valeria becomes another instrument to my ears. Even more enigmatically my MP3 player of choice shows as the genre “Sconosciuto” which translates to stranger or obscure. I can feel my crimped hair growing back as I press play.
Opener “Frenetikia” musically taps directly into The Cure’s Disintegration era. The sparkly darkness that is shot through that masterpiece is clearly evident here. In fact the track keep sending me back to that 1989 album to decide which track it most reminds me of . (It’s Homesick by the way). Of course the sound by this two piece is nowhere near as full as Bob Smith et al but it certainly evokes a similar vibe. Valeria’s vocal line is very high in the mix and she is certainly no shrinking violet. The accompanying press release mentions Cocteau twins and Cranes but there is no shoegaze soft pallet in the opener. She is a straight singer with no affectation or subtlety, creating more of a torch song . “Cercando Solitude” up next drops the vocals a little and trips along over a Joy Division bassline portraying a very real sense of melancholy in its 4 minutes.
“I believe in you ” is back in Cure territory with a strange mix of syncopated almost Cleo Lane jazz type singing followed by a goth pop chorus sung in English . It grates a little and starts to sound a little Eurovision in places. At nearly 8 mins it is pretty enough but never really goes anywhere.
“Aggrapata Al Silenzio” has a strange rubbery sounding bassline to it, like a slap funk bassline slowed down to fit. “The Way Down” adds some electronica into it and sounds more urban with a rhythm that brings to mind metro trains and John Foxx Underpass in equal measures.
This is dark pop with an Italian twist and I cannot deny the fact that the titles add a certain romance to the album. This is music to gaze out of the window longingly to, just to see your lover disappearing around a rainy corner, carrying your heart ripped from your chest. Or something.
I am a sucker for a good morose piano line and “But I love You” begins with one that Ludovico Einaudi would be proud of. What follows is less down beat but instead reminds me of the Sugercubes in a winsome but slightly less batshit crazy way.
“Vorrei Una VitaSemplice” is Lush with a tribal beat and the vocal line once more upfront and stopping the track disappearing completely into shoegaze territory. “Paura E Fede” which follows is like a Giorgio Moroder mix of The Cure – atmospheric synthpop you could goth dance to, complete with tortured guitar line.
V reaches its climax having gone full circle with another slice of the Crawley boys . There seems to be a trend on this album that if the track has an English title like “They Do Know” it contains a slow scat vocal which is disconcerting and enchanting in equal measure.
This is dark pop with an Italian twist and I cannot deny the fact that the titles add a certain romance to the album. This is music to gaze out of the window longingly to, just to see your lover disappearing around a rainy corner, carrying your heart ripped from your chest. Or something.
(6.5/10 Matt Mason)
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