CLONE.NL

M. Zalla (Piero Umiliani)

Suspense

Among all the aliases used by the great Piero Umiliani, M. Zalla is perhaps his most rich and surprisingly multifarious: mainly used to produce experimental records that had little commercial appeal, this nom de plume (along with Moggi) is tied to memorable episodes of his career, releases such as “Problemi d’oggi” (literally “Today’s Problems”), “Mondo inquieto” (i.e. “An Unsettling World”), and also “Suspense”, now reissued by Schema Records. And if titles such as those mentioned above may somehow disguise the musical content (electronic music, by the way), “Suspense” perfectly anticipates what you will hear in its seventeen songs. A full-black front cover, the title written with yellow coloured typeface for an album that promises tension, gloomy atmospheres, mystery and, needless to say, suspense elements that convey anxiety and distress. Thanks to the clever use of Moog and keyboards, combined with magnificent orchestral arrangements, the tracks rapidly flow one after another in a crescendo that leaves you breathless, to cite the title of one of the best tracks.