Alice & Franco Battiato
I Treni Di Tozeur / Le Biciclette Di Forlì

"And for an instant the desire to live returns
 at another speed" 

With "Azimut" and especially "Falsi Allarmi," Alice has now achieved complete autonomy, therefore the involvement of Battiato and Pio as arrangers is no longer necessary; the versatile Carla Bissi is now launched towards a splendid career. However, there is still time in '84 for a second duet, after that of "Chanson Egocentrique" on "Azimut".

"I Treni Di Tozeur" is a piece composed by the Battiato-Pio duo and it evokes atmospheres distant in time and space, an ethereal text constructed to be sung as a duet so as to exploit the two voices and especially the two different ways of experiencing the song of Alice and Franco Battiato. The typical singing of the Sicilian author, reflective and calm, is contrasted with the voice of Alice that plays entirely on her great ability to extend her voice and hit both low and high notes with the same great intensity. The musical texture adapts to the lyrics, a very simple basic sound plot in which the orchestral part has the merit of making the whole almost melodramatic, a sound power actually played on a few adjustments, like the final entry of the choir. The duo participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, placing fifth. The song was included in Battiato's "Mondi Lontanissimi" and Alice's "Elisir," but the original duet version remains unreleased on LP and even today on CD.

If Battiato writes "I Treni Di Tozeur" Alice with much irony composes the instrumental "Le Biciclette Di Forlì". This track has a very particular rhythm in which sudden accelerations alternate with slower parts, the framework is dictated by the electronic drums where the typical muffled sounds of the pads that characterize the tempo changes stand out. The synth is instead entrusted with the beautiful melody that harks back to a prog-rock revisited in a New-Wave key. This track is also unreleased on CD and LP.

"I Treni Di Tozeur" has become a staple in the live repertoire of both artists and Alice re-recorded it in 2000 for "Personal Juke Box" in a beautiful very simple version, only keyboards and voice.