Antonello Venditti
Tortuga

Three and a half years after "Unica", Antonello Venditti returns with "Tortuga", which refers to the bar in front of the "Giulio Cesare" Classical High School our artist attended in his youth, as well as the island depicted in the booklet inside the album.

The usual super guests like Gato Barbieri and Carlo Verdone are no longer present, and especially absent is Alessandro Colombini, Antonello's historic producer, following a thirty-year collaboration. However, there is Alessandro Canini, the new producer, and new collaborators, including Roberto Pacco, author of two songs on the album. And there is, unfortunately for the last time, the late keyboardist Sandro Centofanti, to whom the album is, predictably, dedicated. Antonello's other longtime musicians, Danilo Cherni, Amedeo Bianchi, and Maurizio Perfetto, also appear on this album.

Let's get straight to the point: the album doesn't reach (not even this one, following "Unica") three stars. The much-touted turning point was only partial, but everything else remains unchanged and therefore predictable: 9 songs, two of which share the same inspiration, "I ragazzi del Tortuga" and indeed "Tortuga", the ever-present Rome, the usual love-heart rhymes (actually heart-love, but it makes little difference), the usual embarrassing little song! The change was only partial, as we said. Thanks to the convening of the B. I. M. Orchestra, already in the service of Laura Pausini and Mario Biondi, which gave the album a more classical and lyrical flavor, especially in the last, titular track; and indeed thanks to the new authors, who brought less monotony to the album and enriched the vocabulary. Roberto Pacco signed the opening single "Cosa avevi in mente" and the less-Venditti-like "Nel mio infinito cielo di canzoni" (like "Ti ricordi il cielo" was, written by Pacifico in the previous album), while for "Attento a lei" there was a crowding of authors that also characterized the 2011 album. Roberto Casalino has instead embellished the good "L'ultimo giorno rubato". Thus, Antonello is increasingly less of a songwriter and more of an interpreter, as he alone penned just three of the nine tracks present, which are "Non so dirti quando", clearly dedicated to Alessandro Centofanti, "Tienimi dentro te" (the one with the love-heart rhyme mentioned before, but aside from that a very respectable track), and the concluding "Tortuga", where, in the presence of a text evocative of high school youth, the same identical sequence of notes from "Dalla pelle al cuore" is shamelessly reprised!! Among the self-plagiarisms is also "Cosa avevi in mente", which explicitly recalls "Unica" at the end, thus spoiling a track whose lyrics are not trivial, and speak of a rebellious girl, just like Lilly from 40 years ago.

As proof that the despicable dictatorship of marketing continues its course, no track reaches four minutes in length except for "Tortuga" (which exceeds it by just five seconds), making the album too short (33 minutes and 11 seconds), and despite the rediscovered sax solos by Amedeo Bianchi, absent in "Unica", everything is immediately dampened, cut short, leaving no room for the songs to breathe.

We mentioned "the usual embarrassing little song": "Ti amo inutilmente" is the parody of a parody of a song, a horrifying track in the style of "Come un vulcano" and "La ragazza del lunedì" that winks at the most idiotic contemporary dance and the jingles of telephone companies!! It will be the second single of the album, and it seriously makes one reflect on the mechanisms of our music.

Curiosity: the lyrics are not present in the booklet, as in recent works, and Antonello has declared that this was a calculated choice to have them rewritten "to make them feel real", just like the Cinzia of 1984. Also, after 20 years, Antonello reappears on the cover of an album of new material, something that hasn't happened since "Prendilo tu questo frutto amaro".

What are the best moments of this "Tortuga" in conclusion? The interpretation of "Non so dirti quando", the vocal emphasis with which Antonello remembers his departed friend; the music of "I ragazzi del Tortuga", the most successful track on the album, an energetic song but not embarrassing; the lyrics of the title-track, evocative as mentioned (especially in the passage about the Greek version), although in the style of "Compagno di scuola" and "Giulio Cesare", but since "Tortuga" is the bar in front of the High School, it couldn't be otherwise.