Did you know there’s a word for that state between sleep and wakefulness when you slip into the world of imagination, but you are not quite dreaming? In fact, there are two words in English: hypnagogia for the transition from awake to asleep, and hypnopompia for waking up. Italian has just the one (as far as I know); they call it dormiveglia.

“… it’s a magic time when you grasp the tail-end of dreams with your fingertips and enjoy the warmth of your bed, content to lie there and muse.”

Grace (@Wordfoolery)

It’s also a time of maximum creativity. Words and images and sounds flood through the mind as if a volcano of inventiveness has erupted and a stream of red-hot lava is flowing through your semi-conscious thoughts. But it is a fleeting state. The lava soon cools, the red river slows and blackens, and the sparks fade away. And yet, it leaves behind new ground on which to build, a place with fresh perspectives to inspire the artist. That, I think, is why Marco Machera chose to call his latest album Dormiveglia.

I have classified this album as ‘soft prog’, but it doesn’t really fit any of the usual genres. It is suspended on gossamer threads of ambient pop, rock, jazz and world music, hovering in that comfortable zone between aimless drifting and purposeful progress. A hypnogogic state between sleeping and waking.