Every now and then, art thrives when you keep things simple. Stripping away until all you have the bare essentials, which in itself is a broader list that can vary from artists, can bring out something real and genuine. With less clutter, there’s a form of clarity and focus that allows the true essence of music to shine through. It’s not about piling on extra instruments or complicated production; it’s about pure, direct energy. Heck, one of my favourite artists is Bushy One-String, who literally plays a guitar with only one string on it. And the result is music at its most raw.
Then again, it is a little odd to be starting 2025 with a track like “The Words I Didn’t Say” by Fabio Cicala, as this is one that isn’t really doing a lot of things and the minimalism on display being the point. An instrumental acoustic guitar track recorded at renowned studios like Abbey Road and Soho Sonic Studios and has been relayed to me to be a piece in a project featuring 9 songs that reflect Fabio’s evolution since his move to the UK from Italy in 2014, this track may seem bare to the untrained ear but giving it a couple of listens enables the viscerally simple point of all forms of music to be highlighted; the simple truth that music is made to capture a mood, an emotion or to phrase it into modern language, to capture a vibe and with its intricate playing definitely captures a mood that can only be described as “mundanely intricate”.
The track goes through multiple progressions, playing with chords on a whim all to capture the feel of things just… happening. The passage of time. The blur between hours, between days, between weeks and between years. While it doesn’t have the dementia-inducing elements featured on later entries, this track does feel like it could’ve easily been on at least the first album in The Caretaker’s “Everywhere at the End of Time” in capturing the same feelings.
With guitar work that is straightforward and simple, Fabio really gets you paying close attention to the notes he plays and if you even read through it a bit, much like jazz, notice the intricacies of the notes not being played as empty spaces are deliberate when they exist, and the distant allure of that makes this seemingly simple track a lot more layered than it would be given credit for.
In the end, Fabio Cicala keeps it all about the essentials. No extra flourishes, no distractions—just clear, unadulterated sound. And that’s what makes it so compelling; the mundane intricacy on commendable display.
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About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for publications in the US and former lead writer of Atop The Treehouse. Reviews music, film and TV shows for media aggregators.
