Bic Runga
Belle

Dear devoted readers, are you ready for a nice trip to the antipodes? With this review, I will take you to the distant New Zealand, to discover an excellent local talent; Sino-Malay on her mother's side and Maori on her father's side, a star in her homeland but unknown or almost so abroad, Bic Runga is an adorable pop singer-songwriter active since 1997 who boasts a repertoire of simple and intimate songs characterized by a great spontaneity and catchy melodies as well as a refined and personal style, an almost artisanal care of the sound and arrangements. Broadly speaking, she could be compared to the American Aimee Mann, another brilliant artist who enjoys very little following and notoriety here, but Bic Runga has a very well-defined personality of her own, a personality that places her in that "no man's land" that has become my favorite hunting ground: a bit too much for the usual consumers of radio trash, who could perhaps appreciate her only as one of the many one-hit-and-done singers (like the Indonesian Anggun or the Mexican Julieta Venegas, just to name the first examples that come to mind) passed into an ether saturated with decaying and sad relics, but "too little" to be taken seriously by the sophisticated admirers of the more refined and celebrated female "alternative" singer-songwriters who have emerged from the '90s to today; perfect for me, then.

"Belle" from 2011 is the fourth album for the New Zealand artist, whose career is marked by long intervals between releases, and it's a dynamic, captivating, and very personal work; ten songs, almost never exceeding four minutes in length and characterized by a particularly direct and spontaneous feeling, "Belle" gives the impression of being a "homemade" album, and that's its added value. Her songs seem like sketches in bright colors, simple compositions made economically, with great care but without particular baroque elements and sophistications. Her very way of singing, clean and straightforward, conveys a pleasant sensation of freshness and liveliness. Yet this is an album very creative and varied in its simplicity, often developing in an unpredictable manner: At the beginning, everything seems to portend a very cheerful and rhythmic mood, then it settles into a seductive and soft pace, full of colorations and subtle refinements; it starts with "Tiny Little Piece Of My Heart", a short and delightful piano-pop march, followed by the fresh and brilliant "Hello Hello", semi-orchestrated folk-pop with high radio potential and a vintage aftertaste.

As I already mentioned, this is a false start, very graceful and pleasant, but in an absolute sense misleading and disconnected from the rest of the album, characterized by more subdued and elegant tones, with some soul atmosphere, like the reflective "Good Love" and the lighter and velvety "If You Really Do", both supported by solid and soft bass lines and very pleasant and captivating melodies, or jazzy in the case of the concluding "Music And Light", which would have been an excellent title track, both because it aligns with the mood of the album and for the catchy title that well represents Bic Runga's musical proposal. The arpeggio and the lazy, seductive progression of "Everything Is Beautiful And New" harkens back to some of the more acoustic atmospheres of Blackmore's Night and is a great example of the slightly surreal and disorienting atmospheres characterizing the best episodes of the album, like the intense ballad "This Girl's Prepared For War" with its captivating western-Morricone arrangement and the 60's psychedelic reflections of the Beatlesesque march "Devil On Tambourine" and "Darkness All Around Us", an evocative duet with producer Kody Nielson.

Songs for almost everyone's taste, therefore, and an overall excellent final product; from a strictly pop point of view, "Belle" almost reaches perfection despite the first two songs (and singles) that feel poorly integrated into the context, but otherwise, the combination of a pleasant and captivating voice, simple and incisive melodies, and a flourishing creative vein gives life to a beautiful album to discover. A light, interesting, and never boring listen, and that's perfectly fine with me, I can gladly do without the singer-songwriter-intellectual boredom of a Regina Spektor or similar artists, especially if the alternatives are so valid and not easy to find, which adds further satisfaction to the listening experience and the search.