His Majesty The Baby

*In process of stocking.* On the occasion of Syd Barrett's 75th birthday, in 2020/21, Gonzo Records released "Love You: A tribute To Syd Barrett", practically all of the "boy's" albums remade by a host of groups from around the world. The more than competent Shinding magazine listed among the best tracks "Feel" by His Majesty The Baby, an Italian ghost band, actually Francesco Paolo Paladino (an old acquaintance: Atrox, Doubling Riders, and many solo albums) and Luca Chino Ferrari (poet, music writer, free thinker). On the strength of such a successful debut HMTB have worked tenaciously to build, chisel and breathe this album for Silentes, "Hope for Madness."

Let's say right away that HMTB are a very strange group: Paladino is in charge of composing (and performing) all the music, while Ferrari takes care about the lyrics. Then there are the guests - and what guests! Most of them step in to sing and interpret Ferrari's lyrics (and we are talking about Martyn Bates, Edward Ka-spel, Alison O'Donnell, In Gowan Ring, Kitchen Cynics, Serena Nono, Maria Assunta Karini, Enomissosab); then there are the musicians/sound saboteurs who already collaborated on Paladino's previous albums: Mauro Sambo on woodwinds, Stefano Scala with his stralunate percussion, Maurizio and Roberto Opalio with their frosted noise entity, the Cavalazzi trio, Tiziano Popoli. And then we find again the unmistakable voice of Fiorella Gentile, host of legendary radio programs back in the days of our youth, who had already collaborated with Franco Battiato on "M.elle Le Gladiator".

As the title itself suggests (a clear reference to early Soft Machine) the land the incredible brigade tackles is the "dada" territory of the early 20th Century, which, through chemical mutations that are difficult to recount, morphed into the 1967-69 adventure of the more adventurous Beatles and the fascinating Zappa psychedelia. It is a true journey through 14 tracks that cling to each other, separate and find each other through inventions and references (not least the early Philip Glass) that glide swiftly, building a topography that is both unprecedented and evokes a thousand scents. "Hope for Madness" is a refined latticework of influences and novel solutions, a calembour worthy of the best Canterburian seasons, winking at both "200 Motels" and the bravest Italian prog. It is no coincidence that the final track is a haiku recited by Fiorella Gentile greeting Franco (guess who...) wherever he is now. The circle is reconstituted and we can certainly say that some oxygen is still breathing in this old sick planet.