"April" più che un vero nuovo album dei Vast, è una raccolta di inediti che ci offre l'artista Jon Crosby in una veste completamente acustica, spoglia di tutti gli orpelli elettrici ed elettronici che ne hanno caratterizzato i lavori fino ad oggi. Appare quasi un album cantautorale figlio di un progetto solista di un vocalist in libera uscita dal proprio gruppo. Sarebbe così se non fossero già i Vast l'emanazione di una sola persona. Ecco perché quest'album suona un po' fuori luogo nella loro discografia. Se non fosse così sarebbe una svolta sonora che lascerebbe basiti tutti i fans del gruppo.

"Transito", "Passaggio", "Parentesi" sono quindi le parole d'ordine per trovare la chiave di lettura giusta di questo lavoro. All'interno del disco vi sono proposte otto nuove canzoni e le versioni acustiche di due brani minori di "Nude", "Be With Me" e "I Can't Say No To You", che paradossalmente si lasciano quasi preferire alle originali.

L'incedere costante della chitarra acustica accompagna l'introduttiva "You're Too Young" e la malinconia diventa subita protagonista della scena. In "Sunday I'll Be Gone" fa capolino un piano. "One More Day" è anche più intima e riflessiva. Colori lividi e opachi dipingono l'aria e già sembra difficile poter reggere una tale tensione emotiva per tutto il disco. L'anima rock di Crosby però fa una fugace apparizione con "I'm Too Good" in una sorta di blues per figli del metal. Si sente finalmente qualche innalzamento di tono nella splendida voce di Crosby, poi addirittura l'atmosfera acustica viene parzialmente rotta da un breve assolo di chitarra elettrica. Vengono in mente anche i REM, soprattutto quelli di "Automatic For The People".

"I Am A Vampire" è un altro brano un po' atipico del disco, con un andamento da filastrocca e un'aura maggiormente gioiosa rispetto al resto dei solchi di questo disco. Con "She Visits Me" si ripiomba nell'introspezione, grazie a note sofferte come poche volte si era ascoltato in un album dei Vast. Si odono echi dei Radiohead più struggenti, quelli di "Exit Music (For A Film)" per intenderci. Un'atmosfera vagamente country accompagna "Tattoo of Her Name", che suona quasi come una versione unplugged di "Land Of Shame". L'unico altro brano completamente inedito è "Having Part Of You" che ricorda molto, anche nella linea melodica "Desert Garden". È stato forse proprio quel brano a generare l'idea di un disco acustico dove il song-writing fosse ridotto all'essenziale, la musica spogliata di ogni addizione, l'artista messo ulteriormente a nudo, ancor più che in passato.

Un ennesimo atto d'amore nei confronti dei fans. Che sia stato apprezzato o meno, a voi la risposta...

Elenco tracce testi e video

01   You're Too Young (03:35)

It's after two
And I am all alone
Then she appears
She says she'll get me home
We end up lost
In a suburban maze
And then she says her house is on the way
I should leave
It's time to go back home now
I should leave
You're too young for me
She has a man
She says he's just a boy
And she wont bite
Unless it brings me joy
I don't know where all the time has gone
I don't know where all the years have gone
I should leave
Put your clothes back on now
I should leave
You're too young for me
I should leave
It's time to go back home now
I should leave
You're too young for me

02   Sunday I'll Be Gone (04:01)

Hair of gold and eyes like stormy seas
You say you love me, want to marry me
And as I'm looking for the wedding ring
You say I don't have to spend anything

Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone
Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone

Your dad gave up on you so long ago
Your mother is someone you do not know
You have no money and you still get by
Everything I say makes you cry

Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone
You can wear, all the colors that you want
Sunday I'll be gone

What am I supposed to do
Sit around and wait for you
You ask for nothing and you want
Everything

You want to take another photograph
You say it makes you think of me
If it only took a photograph
I think you would still be here with me

Stay with me, we'll be closer than the stars
Sunday I'll be gone
You can wear, all the colors that you want
Sunday I'll be gone

Sunday I'll be gone

03   One More Day (02:58)

Have you heard
Have you tried to understand
It's all right
It gets easier with time
How are you
Are you ever coming back
I have changed
And I've realized I was wrong
I was wrong
Now I'll never see your face anymore
Oh my Love
I'd give anything for one more day with you
I'm getting through
I wish you felt the way I do
I have changed
And I've realized I was wrong
I was wrong
Now I'll never see your face anymore
Oh my love
I'd give anything for one more day with you

04   I'm Too Good (03:39)

I guess I made a big mistake today
When I told you that I loved your pretty face
Everyone says I should walk away
From the storm that lies beneath that pretty face

In my dreams
I was lost
You were nowhere to be found
You're too bad to bring back home and
I'm too good to feel this way

I guess I made a big mistake today
When I bought a dozen roses for your place
You're a zombie in a dress and I'm your clown
When I take you out you always look around

In my dreams
I cried out
You were nowhere to be found
Why am I the one who's crying I'm too good
I'm too good to feel this way

You were nowhere to be found
You're too bad to bring back home and
I'm too good to feel this way

05   I Am a Vampire (03:22)

06   She Visits Me (03:31)

she visits me
when I am weak
when I have nowhere to hide
she always knows when I have someone
and then she comes
she comes to torture me

she visits me
when I am asleep
when I have nowhere to run
she always knows when I have no one
then suddenly
she's there to tempt me

she visits me
she visits me
from the corners of the past
she won't let go of my spirit here
she comes
she comes to haunt me

she visits me
she visits me
from the corners of the past
she won't let go of my spirit here
she comes she comes to haunt me
she comes, to visit me

07   Tattoo of Your Name (02:54)

She told me he was beating her today
And she showed me all the bruises on her face
I said, baby, can I make it all OK
She said, honey, you should make him go away

There's a hundred thousand dollars in the bank
And the policy he took out yesterday
We can live outside the country for awhile
Until things smooth over and get under control

There's a tattoo of your name across my soul

I bought a rifle and black gloves without a name
For an alibi she went six states away
When I saw him I felt fire I felt cold
Like the devil and the lord wanted my soul

Like the tattoo of your name across my soul

So I shot him in his car until he died
I called to give the signal and she cried
Life has a way of making other plans
She called the cops and said I was a crazy man

I'm gonna get this thing removed when I can

There was never any policy
And the bruises came from falling on the street
So the judge gave me one hundred thousand years
In the courtroom she was filling up with tears

I saw her hold the lawyer's hand real tight
They looked tired from lack of sleep last night
Seems the whole time she had me under control

With a tattoo of her name across my soul

She gets off and I will never have parole

Just this tattoo of your name across my soul
Just this tattoo of your name across my soul

08   Be With Me (03:30)

09   Having Part of You (03:46)

10   I Can't Say No to You (03:03)

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