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Rating: "Azimut" published in 1982 is an album that sees Alice distance herself from the more typically New-Wave atmospheres that marked the previous work. In fact, the somewhat neurotic and confessional songs are replaced by more linear compositions in melody and less acidic in lyrics.
Overall, it is a much more accessible and catchy work, but the immediacy stems from a solid cultured musical matrix that only serves to enhance all the tracks. Written almost entirely by Alice, it opens with "Azimut", a beautiful composition highlighted by a nice piano aided by synths for the success of a remarkable and pleasant melody. The lyrics trace the story of a housewife totally marginalized and disconnected from life's joys ("I am the devil of the house / of a star the azimuth annulled /"), the subsequent "A Cosa Pensano" is a track with a very catchy chorus, and the lyrics are a reflection on the inner life of each of us, visualized by Alice in the long list of "thinkers."
The musical foundation has its roots deeply in the '70s, and indeed, the use of synthesizers and drums in many tracks is foreign to the period. Moreover, the addition of the sax is a truly successful touch characterizing many compositions, "Animali D'America" above all.
Then shines the overwhelming rock of "Deciditi", a typically '70s track, as dirty and scratchy in its melody as it is clean and harmonious in singing. "Messaggio" is a refined love song; once again, the sax enriches an already delightful sound harmony. The splendid "La Mano", with arrangements curated by Finardi, who also signs the little gem "Laura Degli Specchi", where Alice delivers a suggestive interpretation and maximizes the folk atmosphere that the track gains in its final progression with a violin in tow. Concluding words on the apparent nonsense of "Chanson Egocentriquè", a track sung with Battiato, a joyful and overwhelming new-wave that does not clash with the rest of the work.
A highly recommended album, yet another proof of an artist in Italy who is decidedly out of the ordinary.
Tracklist and Samples
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