Album review: The Ghibertins ‘The Life & Death of John Doe’

Italian quintet The Ghibertins have shared their powerful sophomore album ‘The Life & Death of John Doe’ and it’s pretty darn magical.

The album is a concept album that follows a protagonist through every decade of his life; from his conception to his afterlife. “‘Intro’ begins this unique journey that will allow us to see the fall and the redemption of the main character, putting pen to paper all of the band’s hopes and fears, frontman Alessio Hofmann explains.

Genre-wise, the album is hard to pin down. There are some really beautiful indie-folk moments within ‘In Your Arms’ and ‘Ropes & Kites’ and even ‘My First Day on Earth’ before it kicks into high gear. It’s a an interesting idea for a concept album as you definitely feel the journey here, but perhaps the stadium pop-rock sound paired with sort Americana-infused tones are bit a bit too different? Find out for yourselves.

Hailing from Milan, the band consists of Alessio (voice & acoustic guitar), Lorenzo Rivabella (electric guitar), Lorenzo Di Blasi (keys) Marco “Marva” Vaghi (drums) and Luca Losio (bass). They have received critical acclaim from he likes of BBC Radio London, Clash Magazine, For Folk’s Sake, Music Week and Americana UK to name a few. The Ghibertins have also supported the likes of Fatherson and The Xcerts previously.

‘The Life & Death of John Doe’ is out now.

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