Bluvertigo
Zero

THE REVIEW

The Z, the last letter of the alphabet. Closure of the chemical trilogy. Resetting and distancing from chemistry, a constant element in Bluvertigo's artistic journey, who in '99 produced "Zero", namely the famous snowstorm of '85, (the moment when Morgan decided to become a musician) their last album, a maturation of intent both sonically and textually. Much more digital, less acoustic, and compact than the previous two, like a circular geometric construction, with David Richards (Queen) participating in the mixing in Switzerland. As usual, a piece of work where citation is a game to blend the art of Morgan (new-wave, glam, singer-songwriters, electro-pop, psychedelia) who does everything: lyrics, music, production, and arrangements along with his companions.

"Zero", opening and manifesto of the album. Nine Inch Nails in the foreground. Industrial and robotic singing of the '80s. "Chi mi ama, non mi vuole correggere" sings Morgan in a Devo-like atmosphere, where flashes of Kraftwerk-style electronics emerge, with continuous exchanges between the left and right channels. The album's first single arrives immediately. "La crisi" (homonymous music video shot according to the Dogme 95), the Italian boys don't cry. Splendid riff, adolescent atmosphere, and electronic break within (Sto vivendo una crisi e una crisi c'è sempre ogni volta che qualcosa non va). You don't come out alive from the '80s, and Bluvertigo reminds us of this in "Sono=Sono", which recalls the New Order's "Blue Monday" in the chorus, and "Sovrappensiero", a singer-songwriter masterpiece arranged like Depeche Mode's "Some Great Reward." Morgan's future solo endeavors can be found in the proto-apartment of "La comprensione", a vintage atmosphere updated with dissonant strings and unforgettable words (la comprensione è un utopia, come l'anarchia ed è per questa che va ricercata).

The two important shadows on the album are David Bowie and Franco Battiato. The white duke is mentioned both in the glam incarnation with "Finchè saprai spiegarti", where Andy's sax dialogues with funky rhythms typical of that Bowie, as well as in the Berlin trilogy's Enian riff in the oriental sounding of "Autofraintendimento" and in the homage with the stupendous reinterpretation of "always crashing in the same car" (Low). Battiato, besides participating with some vocal cameos, in "sovrappensiero" (with Bach's choir), and in the dramatic final question mark (dove sono arrivato?) of "punto di non arrivo" as the album's closure, influences Morgan in his exceptional lyrics, always rich in meanings and content, never trivial, managing, like the artist from Catania, to be original even in seemingly simple phrases.

The melancholic ballad "Forse" with Andy on lead vocals for the first time, and the electroclash of "Lo psicopatico" (the third morganian character after "L'eretico" and "L'eremita"), complete an almost perfect album, though lengthened by questionable episodes like "Niente x scontato" (it sounds like Jovanotti), the classical experimentalism of "Numero" with the collaboration of maestro Carlo Carcano and instrumental whims of "Porno Muzik" and "Saxs interlude", which appear more like mere diversions and fillers of an already accomplished masterpiece.

After the reset, Bluvertigo will take a long break that's been lasting for four years now (after the Sanremo episode of "L'assenzio"), and Morgan with just one solo album will gain more acclaim than he did with his band, which was the most important and original 360° artistic-multimedia factory of Italian music in the '90s.