turn to see me.//the dining rooms

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐  

The Dining Rooms is the stage name of the Downtempo act and Italian production duo Stefano Ghittoni and Cesare Malfatti. The duo recently announced an exciting album drop; entitled Turn To See Me. It follows the duo's previous release 'Art is a Cat'. It is a really good listen

The foremost record on the album is also named alongside the album. 'Turn to See Me' but is completely overshadowed by the sound put forward by songs such as 'I Am Here' and 'Gli Inglesi E Gli Americani'. The latter is both a well synthesised, and even a somewhat jungle-inspired cut. 

The absence of any sort of flanger, chorus effects, but the trusted presence of the synth effect will propel the 43-minute album into the "safe spot" of Downtempo, which is a fair complement to offer. The album contains a tracklist of songs titled in Italian, with some well-conceived emotive meaning. For instance, one record is named after a popular drama series - 'Lungo iL Fiume E Sull'acqua' (meaning "along the river and on the water" in Italian).

Indeed, though Turn To See Me is supposedly a Downtempo drop, this type of music has bags of variance but honestly lacks any sort of conviction and is way too organically composed to be elite Downtempo. 'What's Your Path, Man' and 'Notturno Cileno' contain a quasi-contemplative element due in part to the effect of the mid-octave chord being used. Yet, little more than a broad reverb effect is noticeable (and of course, the transition symbol on each 16) - which in the age of TikTok jingles, might not be such a bad thing.

Overall - 7/10

1. Bonjour - 5/10
2. Lungo iL Fiume E Sull'acqua - 5/10
3. Desire - 7/10
4. Gli Inglesi E Gli Americani - 8/10
5. Quanto Tempo ci Resta? - 6/10
6. Turn To See Me - 6/10
7. I Am Here - 8/10
8. Energy and Love - 9/10
9. Emty Window/Empty Space - 6/10
10. What's Your Path, Man - 7/10
11. Water and Sea - 7/10
12. Pronuncia di Levante - 6/10
13. Notturno Cileno - NR

After much deliberation, we have playlisted one track on the album, entitled 'Energy and Love'. Check it out on your Apple Music shared playlists.