Alice
Viaggio in Italia

"Sometimes, stubbornly, we walk at all costs
while it would be better to stop and... watch."

The first time I "listened" to Alice was at night, on the unified frequencies of RAI when they still broadcast RaiStereoNotte, the only guiding star I have ever truly followed.
Instantly, I was amazed and especially impressed by the list of musicians who had collaborated on the recording of "Il sole nella pioggia": Richard Barbieri, Steve Jansen, Dave Gregory, Jon Hassel, Peter Hammill, Paolo Fresu, Jan Maidman, and Kudsi Urguner (not to mention the lyrics!). Names that give you chills, like the entire album, for that matter.
The accredited skeptics hypothesized that the result could not be regardless of these presences: but they were wrong. Other significant works have justified this voice so unique, of an extravagant beauty, capable of disturbing the soul; it happened in "Mezzogiorno sulle Alpi", in "God is my Dj", in "Exit", and it happens in this "Viaggio in Italia".

It takes courage to face such a selection. Texts that are the literature of our time, that have left an imprint like every individual Author who gave birth to them, like every Musician who transformed them into songs.
Battiato and Scalambro, Pasolini and Di Martino, De Andrè, Fossati, Pannella and Battisti, Sinfield and Fripp, Guccini, Gaber and Luporini, De Gregori, Joyce, and Syd Barret.
The order strictly follows the musical sequence, like a traveler follows the path.
Alice's voice is in perfect form and despite some slight artificial "intrusions" by Francesco Messina, the result is remarkable, on par with the poetic and musical heritage addressed. "Come un sigillo" opens the album in an extraordinary manner and Paolo Fresu's trumpet is an inspiration that recurs. Years later, "Atlantide" still leaves me speechless; Alice's voice is caressed by Jakko Jakszyk's guitar; one of the most beautiful moments of the album, along with "Lindberg": the words I would have wanted to write.

This album moves with every track; it is a journey through memory and also through the corners of the heart, where absence generates essence.
Once again, Alice has amazed me. But the time to watch is over. It's time to resume the journey...