Interviews About Albums: Strania - Acceptance (2024)

In this new interview, we sat down with the Italian Post-Rock band Strania to ask questions about their album, "Acceptance".

1. What can you say about this new EP/CD?

"Acceptance" contains songs written between 2021 and 2023, and is the result of the efforts made during those years. We as a band worked hard to compose meaningful and deep music moved by the passion for post and progressive rock and the faith in their artistic intents, putting our individual influences and ideas at music's service in order to pursue a balance between emotional impact, variety of the songs and technicality. Since we didn't have a singer as a stable band member when recording the album, "Accpetance" features four talented vocalists, each one performing on a different tune and adding something personal to every song.

2. What is the meaning of the EP/CD name?

The album contains songs about the misterious and ambiguous relationship between mankind and Mother Nature, and the title, "Acceptance", was chosen over ones that would have expressed more explicitly the themes of the songs. "Acceptance" was the one we came up with in the end because it focuses on a particular aspect of Mother Nature's role in human life. Mother Nature, throughout the album, is depicted as a loving and caring entity or as a cruel force that aims to destroy mankind and is often personified. However, these are just interpretations that people give based on the natural elements and events that surround them. The truth is that Mother Nature doesn't act moved by feelings or desires as people do, and Her moral purposes are unknown: the only thing that mankind can do is to accept (hence the title) that Mother Nature is an eternal enigma, that has always been, is and will always be above human comprehension.

3. Which one is the composer of the CD/EP?

The creative process involved every member of the band: the instrumentals were composed with the contribution of every one of us, and Giacomo, the drummer, worked on the lyrics too.

4. If you had to pick one song, which one would you pick?

"Lost at sea", the ending track, is the one we would ultimately choose between the album's songs. It is the song we composed before all the other ones way back in spring 2021 and it is the only one from that period we've not discharted. We are really attached to this song because of the dramatic story it tells and the melancholic and intense atmosphere, and we think it's the song that better conveys our musical identity.

5. Is there a special message in this EP/CD? If there is what it is?

The special message, besides the meaning of the title, lies "between the notes, the drum fills and the voices of the singers": by telling a certain story, by strumming a particular chord or playing in a different time signature, we want to reach and inspire the listener, regardless he or she is a musician or not. Music is a powerful form of art that we dediced to use to express our feelings and dreams and we'd love to see more people embrace this way of approaching music both as a listener and a composer.

6. Are there some lyrics that you'd love to share?

The following lines come from "Lost at sea"'s final climax. It is one of the most touching moments of the whole album.

"Thunders rumbling in the distance,

rain falls gently over my head,

I smile for a single instance,

streams of tears of joy my eyes shed.

Nature wants me, She's awaiting,

there's a way out of this madness,

the solution is ascending

with this sacrificial tempest."

7. Which inspirations have been important for this album? Like musically or friends, family, someone you'd love to thank especially?

Our biggest thanks go to all of our close friends and families: these people have been there for us since day one and have always supported us. We also want to thank Giacomo Salani, who produced "Acceptance" and is also a great friend of us, Alessandro Beccari, the author af the album's beautiful artwork, and the four singers of the album (Francesco Marino, Martina Barreca, Mattia Braghero and Leonardo Magi).

8. Something to add?

With the release of "Acceptance" we hope to come in contact with as many people as possible and to share our conception of music with them. This album is both an arrival and a starting point for us, because it is the result of all the time and energy spent during the past years and we see it as a basis to reach higher achievements in terms of music composition and artistic expression.