expansives: life with you

Gianluigi “Gigi” Farina and Francesco Rago are to be counted among Italo disco's true originators. Operating as a duo under many monikers, they brought us masterpieces such as Wanexa's “The Man From Colours”, ‘Lectric Workers' “Robot Is Systematic”, and Decadance's “On And On”. Their sound is propulsive and ethereal in equal measure - dense, psychedelic, and tinged with melancholy. Their first composition was under the name Expansives. “Life With You” was recorded in Milan in 1981 and released on Leader Records in 1982, and features then 16-year old Xenia Monneret on lyric-writing duties. They wanted to incorporate a more electronic sound to break the classic disco mold, and in the process, they created an early, raw example of what would come to be known as Italo Disco. A thumping bass synth and processed drums set the groove, while Francesco sings of his loneliness. Tension is released when he later breaks into a Bee Gees-esque falsetto, but in the context of such an unusual song, the uncanny becomes familiar, the familiar becomes uncanny. Unfortunately they were not able to afford a professional recording studio and had to re-record each take over the same reel of tape. This caused a subtle surface noise buzz that adds to the warm analog feel of the song. On the B-side is the instrumental version with extended breaks, drum claps and dubbed out bass lines.