Italian alt-country pioneers from the earliest days of the genre return with their own take on aching melancholy.
The making of their new album, From Nowhere Revisited, represents quite a journey for Satellite Inn. Formed in 1994 in northern Italy, the band can lay a fair claim to their place in the earliest days of alt-country. By 1997 they were poised to sign to MoodFood Records who had just lost Whiskeytown to Geffin Records. The band were touring in the US garnering critical praise for their music and in 2002 they found themselves back home in Italy as tour support and backing band for Robert Fisher, leader of the much-loved Boston-based collective, Willard Grant Conspiracy. Out of that collaboration, Fisher agreed to produce their next album, provisionally titled From Nowhere. However, with only four songs recorded and sent to the label for approval, disaster struck – the label finances collapsed and Satellite Inn’s record deal fell through.
Over the next couple of decades, the band drifted apart and pursued individual projects that still kept them connected to the alt-country and Americana scene. Crucially, singer and guitarist Stiv Cantarelli’s solo project was backed by members of Richmond Fontaine and released on Willy Vlautin’s El Cortez label, now home for the band’s latest release.
Almost a decade after the tragic death of Robert Fisher, the band rediscovered the lost master tapes of the session they recorded with him and these tracks inspired the new album which is dedicated to their former friend and mentor. The band have moved on from the punk-fuelled drive of their early days and the Willard Grant Conspiracy influence can be heard in their fusing of rock, folk and country on the new album. The rhythm section of Fabrizio Gramellini on bass and Antonio Perugini on drums and percussion continue to provide a rock-solid backbone to the Satellite Inn sound, but it’s Cantarelli’s distinctive, expressive vocals and driving, flat-picked acoustic guitar that helps create the signature sound of the band.
The album opens with Faded By Time one of the most haunting tracks on the album and front and centre is Cantarelli’s strummed acoustic guitar, augmented with some gorgeous slide guitar and viola. Fall River sees the band kick into a rockier sound but still with a plaintive feel with some lovely harmonica brought into the mix. Cigarettes is maybe the heaviest rocker on the album, with a powerful guitar-driven sound augmented with some more slide guitar. Then a change of pace to the desert-noir inspired and mournful Come Back Kid. Barroom rocker Tacoma Girl kicks the pace up again, and Hey Mister, What’s the Matter Now features some neat tempo shifts. Traveller of These Times is a grand, stately rocker and album closer, From Nowhere, bookends the album with another stripped-down ballad featuring Cantarelli’s strummed acoustic guitar and pain-wracked vocal… brief but beautiful.
The nine-track album features excellent contributions from Dave Curry (Willard Grant Conspiracy, Thalia Zedek), Steven Honeywill (Lone Pine), Roberto Villa (Silent Strangers, Ronin), Edward Abbiati (Lowlands, Rattling Chains) and it marks another outstanding chapter in Satellite Inn’s remarkable journey.
