Airport366 - Broken Nights

Review by Karl Magi

Overall Album Impressions

Airport366’s Broken Nights is an emotionally powerful, lyrically engaging retro synth exploration of love, loss and complex feelings. Matteo Bertini’s vocal abilities mingle with evocative songwriting and a musical tapestry bursting with layered synths, emotive sax and propulsive drums to create engaging and ear-pleasing music.

Broken Nights is anchored by Matteo Bertini’s vocal performances. His raw, expressive and touching voice perfectly captures the emotional intensity of the songwriting on the album. I enjoy the gruffness in his voice, giving it a lived in feeling that lends a sense of experience to the lyrics. The way in which he can move from tenderness to ragged pain in his singing draws me in.

Fabian Alexis Díaz Acevedo and Matteo Bertini’s lyrics are another strong draw for me on Broken Nights. They capture a plethora of feelings and emotional states in the words, conveying a potent mixture of nostalgia, loss, passion, melancholy and hope. The way in which the lyrics deliver the emotions to the listener is intense and undeniable.

The way in which the musical backing comes together on this album also attracts me to it strongly. The synths interlock into a layered whole that creates varied tones, timbres and aural textures as they unfold. I find the sax performances to be deeply touching and expressive while the drums and bass give the music huge rhythmic drive.

My Favourite Tracks Analyzed

“Do You Want To Fly” begins as deeply swelling synth drifts along with a radio voice over, talking about a flight that is more than that. Floating synth ripples glide through as open chords drift on and a taut note pattern twirls through as the bass broadly oscillates and grows in intensity before ending in quiet. I enjoy the emotional tone this track sets for the album.

Tenderly pulsing, slightly hazy piano dances in a rich wash to start “Steph.” Matteo Bertini’s powerfully emotive voice rings out in a melody that hurts while dreaming of a lost love. Trickling notes touch the music as a piano calls out with deep feeling.

Sax carries a gently caressing melody that tugs at my heart. The sax’s reedy voice is full of loss as the huge retro drums rebound and the piano calls out to add touching feelings. The chorus bursts out with impassioned life as the massive drums add form.

Matteo Bertini’s vocals have a gruff edge as he emotes and the guitar soars in a solo that explodes with expression and intricacy. Matteo Bertini cries out above the huge drums alone before the drums, piano and flying guitar mingle.

Sometimes the loss of a beloved person can leave us feeling bereft and broken. The storyteller wishes he could make it alone but “today I have to face the fact that you’re gone.”

He says he’d fight if there was anything to be said or done. He feels that without the song’s subject he’d rather quit on life. He adds, “Sometimes when I don’t know who I am, I remember you’re the best I ever had.”

Our narrator wishes again to make it by himself but he has “wandered alone in the night for so long.” He adds that even when he’s high, he still hears the other person’s name echoing in his mind.

He begs the other person to “pull the trigger and end this endless chase.” He also points out that when he’s “outside my head” he recalls that the other person was the best for him. In the end he wonders what would happen if they succeeded. He concludes, “We could try if you believe in it. We both know how damn cold can be the night!”

“I Won't Blame It On You” opens as massive bass waves flow outward as a sample from The Karate Kid fills the background. Misty, enfolding synth floats out and elevated notes sparkle and spin. Matteo Bertini’s voice is richly immersed in pained and powerful emotion above the pulsating bass as huge drums thunder.

The gruffness in Matteo Bertini’s voice gives it a quality I find deeply pleasing. Sharply shining synth cuts in and now the low end rises in muscled motion as the vocals leap forward, Matteo Bertini’s ragged voice heartfelt. The female vocalist adds yearning warmth as she calls out and the drums punch in.

The vocal melody has touching emotion bound up in it as glassy synth gleams out with the tender melody as the low end throbs far below. There’s hazy illumination in the background that glides out into silence.

Life can be gruelling at times, but companionship can ease things a little. Our narrator talks about the way in which he and his friend used to "get wasted on Sundays, let our pain away.” He goes on to say that there's nothing that could heal his friends bruises.

Then the storyteller points out that “this place isn’t heaven" and it won’t change. he says that there one always lives on the edge "until the end of your days". He adds that the other person was also “on the same edge too".

Our narrator elaborates by saying that the place in which they live is cruel and it can “slide right into your room.” He says that he won’t blame the other person for being on the edge.

He continues by talking about how they "ran into the night (and) it felt like we finally paid the price" and he’d always be by the other person's side. He concludes that it "felt like part of our engines” as they ran into the darkness.

Distorted, deep notes move in colossal walls as rapidly tumbling, medium-high synth dances in oscillating motion to kick off “Rescue 1987.” Musclebound drums shove forward as a snare drum ticks before a broadly moving sax calls out in a wistfully dreaming melody as the bass rumbles and drums pound.

I am compelled by the sax melody here. Twisting, string-like notes tangle as they cascade and lissome synth gently touches as the bass forms a towering pulse. Elevated notes with a brassy quality call out and the thunderous low end drives. Hardly scintillating synth adds intense shine and the track fades on sweeping air.

“Broken Nights” starts off as solidly pulsing bass and hard-hitting drums drive while soft-edged, bell-like synth carries an enigmatic melody. Matteo Bertini sings the cryptic lyrics with heartfelt strength as swirling synth clouds rise and rippling notes flit past.

Huge drums throb as trembling synth vibrates as the gritty vocals effectively add weight to the words. A ringing melody drifts with a sense of loss above the guiding drums and scudding bass.

Matteo Bertini’s expressive voice tears from him as trickling synth skips past and the shivering background adds texture and the main melody glimmers out with a hint of mystery and pain intertwined with soft illumination. Matteo Bertini’s voice ends the song along with colossal bass.

Depression sits like carrion birds and watches us, drowning us as we seek a way to banish it. The storyteller speaks of crows on the roof “making a fool of you.” He warns people not to let them “walk on your chest” or else madness will ensue.

Now the narrator talks of how rain is falling through fissures as the song’s subject is “drowning in the sheets.” He warns the other person not to let themselves be taken away and spat out again.

Our storyteller wants to set the dark river alight and adds “if there’s a spark I’ll give it a try.” Bonfires blaze and he wants to rise higher, run away and shake the depression off to make it by himself.

Crows remain on the roof as the narrator dances in darkness while “blind eyes look at me everywhere I turn.” No matter how quickly he runs or how he tries to hide, the lurking “black wave is waiting on the other side.”

Softly billowing synth chords add gentle light to “Sanhattan” as they flare and sunlit notes touch the music. A funky guitar twangs along with the smooth drumbeat. Matteo Bertini’s unique voice skillfully expresses tender affection while shimmering synth sparks twinkle and the low end shapes the music.

Passion and emotion join in Matteo Bertini’s voice to deliver the lyrics as guitar unwinds in a melody mingling love and care. Radiance fills the elevated notes while the vocals dig deep with feeling. Hollow synth with a piping sound carries a dreamy melodic line above the rich chords swelling below.

Sax calls out, carrying ardent emotion and yearning, reedy and heart-touching above the shaping percussion. Matteo Bertini’s voice is distinctive and full of feeling as the song slides to a closing on the open-sounding pipe synth.

Sometimes youthful passions return to us in bittersweet memory. This tale’s teller recalls picking up the song’s subject and thinking that when she got into the car, her dress “seemed to roll down the coast.” They discovered that they were “too young to fall” or have a dream of what they might become as they were “driving all the pain away.”

The narrator speaks of lighting a “fire in the sand at night” and asks the other person to go on and reveal her tan lines because “you cannot stop time.” He adds that it has been some time but lately he’s been thinking of “my Madison, our back and forth, the violet light of the dawn.”

Conclusion

Broken Nights is one of those albums in which each element is distinctive yet combines into a cohesive whole. I find myself listening to the mixture of retro sounds, intense feelings, and rich lyrics over and over again. Airport 366 is a band that I'm going to keep an eye on as they progress.