“The Breathing Machines” is a concept album that is inspired by three works:  An article about television written by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1973 for the Italian newspaper “Il Corriere Della Sera”; “1984” written by George Orwell; and “Animal Farm” also written by George Orwell.  As Andrea explains:  “The story of the album is set in an unspecified year in a near/remote future.  The population of the West is living a progressive cultural impoverishment, but it has also reached an unheard economic prosperity.  Men and women are now ideologically, politically, and socially aligned – the single thought has finally won!  The critical sense is entirely cancelled, with any news/information that is coming from the television or network being true by definition.  This can’t be denied because people are living without any alternative source of knowledge.  This knowledge is also secretly transmitted to future generations of chosen people, hiding it from so-called ‘greys’, who are ordinary people.  It is realised that every time men and women use their brains, they use only one of their five senses and only do so automatically like robots.  So, the greys need a new consciousness.  They have to learn how to communicate using a new language.  They need to be able to make the difference between human beings and breathing machines.”