“Honesty Flowers was born from listening to lots of funk music from all over the world, lots and lots of African music, and from listening to myself as I spent whole nights playing all kinds of percussion instruments. I would fall into a sort of trance and play the same rhythm for hours on congas or on a djembe. It’s an album that was born above all from the beauty of being able to narrate the unknown and recognise yourself in it, which could translate into telling stories and bringing them to life.”
This is what Italian multi-instrumentalist Alessio Ferarri says about the fourth studio album under his Upupayāma moniker, an epic double LP with 11 songs in 1 hour and 11 minutes. It’s a sprawling masterpiece that pushes his signature brew of organic psych-rock and global grooves into percussive, trance-inducing, and distorted territory. Listeners can expect a heady, hedonistic experience through rhythmic African funk, scorched-fuzz riffing, winding motorik jams, and pastoral acid-folk.
From a Mongolian prairie on horseback towards an unknown destination (Fliiim / Laliīmph) to boogie played by some imaginary crazy and slightly pissed-off Peruvians (Mystic Chords of Memory), from a ritual dance from deep Africa (Yuya) to two sounds that mirror each other, allowing past and future echoes to be here and now (Sound Mirrors), and so on—you and I couldn’t make it up. Honesty Flowers is a clever and hypnotic trip across continents and the cosmos. Mind-expanding.
Honestly Flowers—mixed by Chris Smith, mastered by Joseph Carra—is out digitally, on CD-R and vinyl 2-LP, through Fuzz Club Records. Written, performed, and recorded entirely by Alessio Ferarri (guitars, keys, flute, sitar, and an arsenal of percussion).