Hailing from Toronto, Fortunato Durutti Marinetti makes what he has called “poetic jazz rock”—an amalgamation of genres and sensibilities which might not strictly tick any of the boxes of the styles in its title yet nevertheless lives up to the name. The result is a sound less interested in genre tropes than it is its own creativity, embracing an elusive fluidity in order to move wherever it might please.
A joint release by Quindi Records and Soft Abuse, Eight Waves In Search Of An Ocean is Fortunato Durutti Marinetti’s third full-length album and perhaps the most confident expression of this style to date. Drum machines and synths form the foundations, a layered bedrock across which everything from saxophone, flute, vibraphone and violin play, not to mention Marinetti’s almost spoken vocals. There’s something of Kraftwerk in the sound, a smidge of Suicide and no small amount of Lou Reed, though the blend of digital and organic tones is clearly the product of a singular imagination.
Opener and lead single ‘Lightning On A Sunny Day’ serves as the introduction to the record. An epic track that manages to weave real drama into its lazy sprawl, evoking the titular image in its dreamlike blend of space and intensity. “Don’t ask me to explain the spirit of the thing,” as Marinetti sings, “the quality of light / or the distorted logic of dreams / or the chances of extreme possibilities / such as lightning on a sunny day.”
Photography by Kevin Schmidt, layout and design by Jenifer Papararo