Nadja "Eros" LP

Nadja were born in the eighties in Sarzana (Liguria). Towards the end of '82 the two founding members Fabio Giannini (guitar) and Osvaldo Lanata (vocals) were joined by Michele Militello on bass and Roberto Andreotti on drums. The first tape -- La Joie - was recorded in the new AR Studios in San Terenzo. Clearly influenced by the British goth movement Nadja soon introduced more than a reference to the French culture and the Mediterranean music.   The surrealist matrix was evident in the lyrics, even if the socio-political influence is still there. At the turn of '85, the second tape -- Eros -- was out. While strictly anchored to the dark/post punk area, folk elements and dilated structures definitely appeared. After the release of that tape there is a slight change: Lanata leaves the group replaced by Maurizio Montemauri, and the lyrics will be soon written and sung in Italian, no longer in English. In '87, Nadja were just about to enter the studio again, but for a series of personal reasons (study, work, military service) the group was forced to stop. It wasn't until 2015 when two tapes containing a concert and a live rehearsal of the new songs are found. A re-mastered version of these recordings will re-surfaced in the FU_Nadja 87 CD, released that same year. Due to a series of positive feedback, Militello and Giannini will resume the activity as Nadja, giving birth to the Nadja Project. Following a reissue of La Joie (Onde Italiane, 2017) and Act IV (Sunflowers Records), it seems time for Eros, the sought after second tape, to be reissued here on vinyl for the first time. Alessandra Sauer wrote -- in WM number 3, an historical fanzine of the early 80's -- "of all the productions I reviewed for this issue, the Eros tape by Nadja is undoubtedly the best... it's even hard to define what they had in mind this time, difficult to define them, hard to pinpoint. Art was meant as love, then as 'eros'? And the audience is maybe identified with the lover... Nadja have definitely matured as musicians, the sound is less obscure and the pursuit of joy is not over." Sauer's words hit the mark. The work of Nadja is full of electricity, but with many moments of "dark" lyricism, a work ahead of its time.