Latest missive from Satan Is My Brother, the four-piece of players who might be Italy’s answer to Sunburned Hand Of The Man.
On Close Your Eyes, See Black (DISSIPATIO DISS037), they continue to perform strange foggy instrumentals with a dark edge, made with trombone, woodwinds, drums, bass guitar, synths, and such like. I’m not sure how “satanic” their overall intentions may be, but the title of this album has some continuity with their previous release, How Far Can You See?, and the liner notes include an urgent injunction for us to “and so open your eyes now”. What are looking at? The cover art suggests it’s a supernatural cone of light, which splinters into an optical grid of crossing lines inside the gatefold; the kind of stroboscopic visions associated with everyone from religious mystics of the 13th century to acid-head freaks in 1960s San Francisco.
I’m starting to get the hang of their diffused approach to music-making, which has gained a little in purpose and weight since we last tuned in. They still favour a very open-ended structure, but the bass and the drums are doing a bit more to propel these hazy instrumental musings into some kind of purposeful direction. We likened them to Movietone last time, now they seem more like Tortoise or Labradford. It’s possible the presence of trombones and saxophones misled me into expecting jazz moves of some sort, but it’s too sluggish for jazz and no-one is soloing – these explorers are mainly about experimenting with sounds for their own sake, forming unusual blends and shapes, and scattering clues and hints about the impending apocalypse. (09/02/2026)