Nowadays, Charlie Patton would record songs close to those on this album. A sound transported decades forward so that the musician from Rome, Gianni Tbai, can make his roots in Delta blues unmistakably clear. As a one-man band, this artist isn’t chasing fidelity, instead, he dives into a spiral of intent to recreate his own sonic world. The blues pours out in songs that feel timeless. Gianni Tbai is an enigmatic songwriter, his guitars wrap each phrase in mystery, layered with hidden percussion behind an intimate, translucent voice. On this ninth album, the Italian musician is joined by players who add just the right notes to give his core work a sense of originality and personality. The songs unfold at the perfect pace to be experienced as a unified whole, by the end, you’ve listened to an indivisible piece of work. A musician offering us the blues just as any Delta bluesman might have done a century ago, yet it sounds strikingly modern.