“Devotional Songs marks a necessary and refreshing change of direction by Shackleton; collaborating with London-based Italian castrato-style singer Ernesto Tomasini to sound like some lost Coil recordings.
The whirligig drawbar organs of Shackleton’s releases since 2012 are still in effect, but tempered in balance with Tomasini’s remarkable vocal range and some really lush, almost Detroit-style synth harmonies and ritual atmospheres whilst his signature palette of bass and drums hints at some Far and South East Asian influence in the vein of Sleazy’s Threshold HouseBoys Choir recordings.
It’s a beautifully self-contained project covering a broad range of esoteric topography from the detoxing vibrations of Rinse out All Contaminants to the sweepingly epic resolution of Father, Yiou Have Left Me, whilst unmistakably referencing some of Coil or Current 93’s most haunting moments in the chiming harmonic haze, swelling chorales and operatic drama of You Are The One, and the spirit-rousing string arrangements in Twelve Shared Addictions.”
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“We’re ghosted through history as Ernesto Tomasini adds spectral layers of stirring falsetto textures. Taking lines and passages from the book, there’s a timeless, supernatural quality that’s both alarming and arresting. A genuinely unique concept.”
Juno Records – 7 February 2017
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“Critics immediately reached for Coil and even Current 93 as reference points, and this hint of occult folk was only further underlined by the length of the pieces and the presence of Ernesto Tomasini on vocals.”
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“Devotional Songs 27th best album of 2016”
Music Like Dirt (blog) – 2 February 2017
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“This album combines Shackleton’s enchanted polyrhythms and enigmatic sounds with the eccentric vocals of Italian performance artist Ernesto Tomasini. This intriguing collaboration (…) is like nothing else you’ll hear this year, and is definitely one for the collection.”
Eastern Block Records – 26 January 2017
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“vocalist Ernesto Tomasini is superb as a man in search of nullity.”
Docklands (blog) – January 2017
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“Separated from the derelict cut of dub that gave Shackleton his place as truly forward-thinking musical artisan, his display of minimalism still shines here in a stripped-down, and yet harmonious vocal heavy album courtesy of collaborator Ernesto Tomasin on Honest Jon’s Records. The duo utilize the four tracks to contemplate modern affinities of religion and contemplations of Hedonism in the event of a godless world. While the subject matter provides controversy, “Devotional Songs” remains largely spiritual in its design, rewarding listeners with an abstract nature of warped church compositions and isolated choirs that still tickles the brain after initial review.”
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“Tomasini’s remarkable vocal range” and “Devotional Songs” is the year’s 21st best album
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“[Shackleton] chooses to make his arrangements sparse at times which allows Tomasini’s voice to carry the proceedings and carry them it does. Splendidly. With backgrounds borne from bells and vaguely eastern progressions Ernesto fashions melodies, verses and even choruses (of a sort) out of pure vapor. (…) what a voice, that’s all I’ll say.”
Santa Sangre – 15 November 2016
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“Tomasini’s electric four octave voice. Here, high falsetto descended into deep baritone”
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“At times the whole end result feels like an experimental musical, such is the lyrical nature of Tomasini’s performance, but even in the more measured moments the music is nothing short of spellbinding.”
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“Tomasini’s remarkable vocal range.”
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” (…) thanks to Tomasini’s voice, Shackleton’s music is transformed and teleported onto new territories, sounding something like a space dance from a long, long time ago. (…) Recommended.”
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“[Shackleton’s] pairing with Ernesto Tomasini – the cult singer, performer and artist whose history spans experimental theatre, cabaret and collaborations with Othon, Marc Almond, Sleazy, Julia Kent and David Tibet among many others – is a match made in heaven. With his four-octave voice swooping from deep growl to piercing falsetto, Tomasini’s presence both heightens the taste for the theatrical that’s always been integral to Shackleton’s music, and makes explicit the latter’s kinship to the occult energies of the UK’s post-industrial underground. (…) A remarkable collaboration (…)”
Forced Exposure – 20 July 2016
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“Shackleton has never really put a foot wrong during his production career, but these collaborations with vocalist Ernesto Tomasini are especially impressive. Devotional Songs wanders through some very strange territories, with gamelan, organ, bells and shuddering bass all used alongside Tomasini’s wide-ranging voice”
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“What do you get when you combine the enigmatic sounds of Shackleton’s enchanted polyrhythms with the vocals of eccentric Italian performance artist Ernesto Tomasini? Devotional Songs, that’s what. This intriguing collaboration presents itself four long playing tracks honoured with a side of vinyl each. (…) Like nothing else you’ll hear this year, it’s one for the record collection (not the hard drive) and it’s an undeniable, truly singular collaboration”
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“Devotional Songs’ featured performer is not just any vocalist; it’s Ernesto Tomasini, the four-octave singer from Palermo whose CV includes both classical opera and collaborations with Coil’s Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and Nurse With Wound’s Andrew Liles; For a time, he performed in clubs as the Electro Castrato. It’s his voice that gives Devotional Songs its unmistakable character, less opera than British progressive rock of the ’70s. His melodies often resemble virtuosic updates to This Heat’s incantations; occasionally, his open-ended melodies suggest a more sinister version of Dead Can Dance’s Brendan Perry. Shackleton has always had a flair for the dramatic (…) but Devotional Songs is orders of magnitude more theatrical, beginning with Tomasini’s booming voice and extravagant enunciation”
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“The celebrated mime artist Ernesto Tomasini”
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“There’s the enigmatic, irrepressible and outrageously entertaining Ernesto Tomasini, who – in a nod to tonight’s Bowie reminiscences – delivers soaring, falsetto takes of ‘Starman’ and ‘Threepenny Pierrot’”
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“Ernesto is an iconic figure, not just in the way he sees and lives theatre, but in the way he seeks art itself”
Artefact Magazine – March 2016
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“Ernesto Tomasini is one of the most mercurial performers in London and Europe”
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“But out of all the talented guest singers who graced [the stage] it was avant-garde “castrato style” singer Ernesto Tomasini who stole the show. Dressed in full white and speckled black diamond face, his incredible operatic voice soared through the room, as he winked and flirted with the audience. A consummate performer, in between songs, he laconically drawled to the crowd: ‘Straight looking, straight acting'”
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“The man with a four octave range who also does a mean death metal growl and can reach the highest sound that the human voice can produce”
Heathen Harvest – 28 November 2013
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“Cult cabaret artist Ernesto Tomasini’s extraordinary castrato operatic voice”
The Line of the Best – 10 July 2012
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“Ernesto Tomasini’s perfect counter-tenor”
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“Featuring the stunning, expressive range of Ernesto Tomasini. Tomasini’s voice embraces both cabaret and theatre with ease. (…) Tomasini’s expansive range is given full flight (…) Tomasini’s voice soars, switching between falsetto and softly-spoken”
Compulsion online – January 2012
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“Ernesto Tomasini lets out a majestic, frightening, other-worldly operatic wail. He keens and croons, sending his voice spiralling around the room like an unquiet spirit. He stands (…) striking attitudes as if an unholy alliance of Grace Jones and Maria Callas is fighting over his soul. He’s a bizarre but commanding presence – and yet the sheer strangeness of the spectacle doesn’t detract from an unexpected emotional pull. There’s some weird transcendence at work here. [It is] something strangely, indefinably, moving”
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“Ernesto’s appearance on the music video [of “Last Night I Paid to Close My Eyes”] is all at once striking, ostentatious and enigmatic – an element of whimsy to go with the theatrics of it all”
Brainwashed – 27 November 2011
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“Ernesto Tomasini, dressed in a long, blood-red gown filled the room with his beautiful operatic vocals.”
London Fashion Week – 18 September 2008
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“A most extraordinary voice”
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“A voice that is gender changing and at times almost androgynous”
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“Italian cult performer Ernesto Tomasini’s vocal range is uncanny; he sings both the English and Italian parts, in tenor and falsetto, respectively, and sounds for all the world like two separate people.”
ReGen Magazine – 25 July 2007
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“[The show] is the brainchild of versatile actor and singer Ernesto Tomasini, who with his extraordinary singing voice and puckish physical elegance manages to condense the unspoken legacy of gay cinema into just over an hour without foregoing honesty, spontaneity or humour. Tomasini dances, sings and laughs through the best part of a century”
The Stage – 22 April 2006
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“Tomasini camps it up from start to finish with an array of hysterical characters. The sketches pay homage to everything from The Sound of Music to Psycho and he rattles through them with dexterity. His ear for accents, his excellent singing voice and the exuberance with which he mocks the egos of film stars underpins his ingenious humour. Even audience participation becomes an exciting treat. (…) [High praise for] the slickness of Tomasini’s delightful performance and of the production itself.
H&H – 14 April 2006
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“Ernesto Tomasini returns to the Drill Hall in a clever, bittersweet, one-man ‘musical extravaganza’ written and performed by Tomasini himself (…) He manages to pull off some very funny, as well as touching, poignant moments. (…) Tomasini proves to be an incredibly talented, versatile performer. He convincingly brings to the stage a range of memorable moments from film (…) history”
Gay.com UK – 5 November 2005
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“A voice in drag”
Time Out – 16/23 April 2003
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“Tomasini, a falsetto singer himself who can reach the heights with gusto, uses the story to provide us with a medley of opera hits and even the odd music hall song,(…) the comedy and tragedy in the story [are] both moods apt for Tomasini’s face, which is a weird hybrid of Buster Keaton paper-like expressionlessness and camp Peter Sellers cheekiness”
Time Out – 9/16 April 2003
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“With a four-octave range, cult Italian countertenor Ernesto Tomasini could not have found a better vehicle to show off his many talents. (…) One part cabaret performer, one part Simon Schama and one part operatic quick-change artist, he is never less than riveting throughout the show”
What’s On – 9 April 2003
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“Ernesto Tomasini has an amazing singing voice of four octaves; his countertenor range has a strength and beauty well suited to the operatic arias included in the show (…) And alongside the otherwise entirely classical repertoire came the music hall song, ‘Waitin’ at the Church’, complete with broad Cockney accent – no mean feat for an Italian guy from Sicily! (…) Ernesto’s performing career has been a varied one, covering theatre, cabaret and concert hall. In this show he combines all three, and keeps the audience entranced throughout. (…) Ernesto has cult status as a cabaret performer, and I can well understand why – he is flamboyant, versatile, energetic, fascinating to watch and a joy to listen to, both singing and speaking. (…) Ernesto is the besto!”
The British Theatre Guide – 8 April 2003
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“Startling and outrageous”
The Daily Mirror – 4 April 2003
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“Such a charismatic, emotional performer. An extraordinarily powerful voice. When he sings high, the visceral, otherworldly sound is as close as a modern singer can get to the sound of the male sopranos. Surreal”
What’s On – 2 April 2003
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“One gets the impression that the voice and personality of this one-man show’s star, Ernesto Tomasini, could fill a football stadium if they had to. For just over an hour he is actor, storyteller, history teacher, comedian and cantor to a privileged and appreciative audience. He plays a voice, the falsetto, and illustrates its European history with arias, which span five centuries and the four octaves of his own remarkable voice. (…) Tomasini does not let us forget the melancholic dignity of his operatic heroes. But his irreverence, and the energetic performance (…), made us laugh more than we cried. (…) And his voice shakes the room with its rendition of the castrato sound, exploring its capacities to be human or un-natural, florid or pure, grotesque or beautiful. This is undoubtedly a show of contradictions – tragicomic, brutal yet tender, blending the high camp of the stage with that of the church. It is hilarious, moving, educational and a definite must-see”
Gay.com UK – 28 March 2003
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“Multi-talented, utterly engaging Ernesto Tomasini teaches us about the castrati. (…) His singing is a joy, his characterization superb and his enthusiasm catching. (…) An absolute delight”
The List – 15/22 August 2002
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“Ernesto Tomasini has, by any standards, a remarkable voice. It spans 4 octaves and can deliver a powerful falsetto in his upper register. He is perfect (…) He tells the story with flair, wit and a few moments of brilliant, soaring musical illustration”
The Stage – 15 August 2002
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“The most important and wonderful aspect of this show is Tomasini’s voice. He manages to provide a remarkable rendition of castrato-style singing which is both exquisite and strangely eerie”
Edinburgh Guide – August 2002
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Ernesto Tomasini gives a wonderful performance: it is flamboyant, but also quietly communicates the sadness at the story’s heart. His falsetto voice captures the chimerical sound of the castrati with eerie accuracy”
The Guardian – 12 August 2002
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“Amazing Tomasini!”
The Guardian – 5 August 2002
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“His flamboyant singing is most startling”
Time Out – 20/27 February 2002
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“The famous castrato-style performer whose high falsetto can plummet to deep baritone with startling effect”
The Evening Standard – 15 February 2002
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“An opera professional, he is the piece de resistance”
The Face – December 2001
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“Maria Callas meets Marcel Marceau”
The Scotsman – 22 October 2001
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“Ernesto is pretty outrageous – he wears a leotard, tights, heels and has a high voice”
The Sunday Times Magazine – 7 February 1999
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“An impressive, reverberating range. His vocal cavortings bring to mind the operatic qualities of the castrati”
The Scotsman – 15 August 1998
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“He makes quite an impression for he oozes personality and demonstrates an impressive vocal range”
The Stage – 9 July 1998
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“The comic cabaret talents of Ernesto Tomasini”
The Evening Standard – 10 June 1998
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“Superb”
Liverpool Daily Post – 21 November 1996
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“Owner of a remarkable voice”
Oxford Mail – 6 November 1996
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“Possessor of a remarkable voice”
The Oxford Times – 6 November 1996
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“An amazing vocal range”
Evening Argus – 5 November 1996
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“An excellent voice”
The Stage – 10 October 1996
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“An amply characterful voice, a banshee falsetto”
The Independent – 7 October 1996
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“A remarkable voice”
The Financial Times – 2 October 1996
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“An outstanding voice, an imposing presence”
The Sunday Times – 27 August 1995