SOCIETÀ FOGGIANA: A SONICAL SIGNATURE REVIEW

Much was revealed, yet still, much was left to the imagination. Amid the composition of The Sonic L.P. (Deluxe Edition), Lorenzo, the in-house producer and recording engineer behind the Sonic series, proposed that the records sound like news reports and eyewitness accounts of the events chronicled in the project—largely capitalizing on samples and doing away with any extraneous details. It took five years to realize this dream, and it is with great pleasure that we say, all that's worth doing is worth the wait. These are the fruits of a two-year-long hiatus, delivered with a vociferous yet hushed tone. To put it humbly, this is a cigar lounge excogitation ready installation in the sonic series. Minimalist maximalism: that’s all there is to see, and that’s all there is to hear. Due to—or possibly because of—the near drumless production on Società Foggiana, the voices embody the darkness native to the period, all while playing a crucial role in creating the bounce and rhythm necessary to piece this body of work together. This project recounts events of ascension, survival, a strive for the finer things, and the inevitable descent brought on by the wrath of law enforcement, along with the pressures of grim reaping underworld ties. On Società Foggiana, Quintessential Arts postulates itself as the already-immortalized, notorious, eerie organization—the Commission—its hierarchy mirroring that of The Five Families. Società Foggiana harkens back to long-forgotten codes of ethics and conduct, reflecting on acts of betrayal and brutal murders through dialogues derived from a hearing that offered insight into the existence of The Commission, which had, up until that point, been mere hearsay. Furthermore, it borrows from two news reports—one about the famed Baroque-era painter who fled for murder, and the other about a bloody rubout at a barbershop. Throughout its runtime, the project remains anchored in reality yet still manages to invoke the occasional nightmare. It’s not a sales pitch, nor is it a veneration of a life of luxury or how those luxuries came to be amassed. Every instrument is carefully selected and arranged, creating the somber atmosphere that makes the heart weep much like a dark cloud that hovers over your head when a loved one is no longer of this world.