CapaRezza
Exuvia

THE REVIEW

“I realized that the second album was easier than the eighth,” this is how Michele Salvemini (aka Caparezza) introduces Exuvia, released in 2021, his eighth studio album. After releasing Museica in 2014, marked by its rock sound and highly reflective lyrics, Caparezza came out with Prisoner 709 in 2017, where catharsis and the discomfort caused by his tinnitus take center stage, both in the lyrics and the music itself; Exuvia, on the other hand, marks the artist’s journey toward awareness of his condition and the search for escape into another dimension.

Composed of 19 tracks, this album is extremely complete in terms of songwriting and musical execution: it opens with the song “Canthology”, featuring right from the start a collaboration with Mattew Marcantonio, the singer of the British alternative rock group Demob Happy. This track, from which the introductory quote is taken, immediately transports us into soundscapes that diverge from Capa's previous albums, opting for a synth-rock sound where the voice becomes the absolute protagonist, driving the narration—a real anthology of the songwriter’s various musical stages. The following “Fugadà”, as suggested by the title, expresses the desire to escape from a condition of oppression—in this case, his precarious hearing that has haunted him, a deeply traumatic experience for a musician; the musical backdrop is psychedelic, dark and melancholic, enveloping us in a vortex that persists throughout the album. Naturally, since rap is the musical genre that characterizes every Caparezza album, here too it serves as the glue linking the various episodes of the record, even doubling as a tribute to 90s American rap albums, as testified by the skits found in the album’s tracklist. “Una Voce” is the first of these, introducing the single “El Sendero”, sung in duet with Mexican singer-songwriter “Mishel Domenssain”; this is a very catchy song, reminiscent of tracks like “Ti Fa Stare Bene” or “Una Chiave” from his previous albums, but musically influenced for the first time by a Latin flavor. We then come to “Campione Dei Novanta”, a track that revisits certain themes Salvemini had already tackled in “Abiura Di Me” from Le Dimensioni Del Mio Caos; the discomfort he felt in the first part of his career is contrasted with another kind of discomfort: no longer seeing himself in the current Italian music scene, “...in confronto Mikimix è Bob Dylan...” the lyrics state with a tongue-in-cheek spirit. After this track, another skit leads us into a new section of the album: the seventh track, “Contronatura”, explores the theme of the relationship with nature, ranging from reflective moments to references to Italian literature from past centuries; together with the following “Eterno Paradosso”, with its pop-rock tone and a concluding guitar solo that leaves you stunned at first listen, these are two of the album’s most successful chapters. “Marco e Ludo” is a skit introducing the single “La Scelta”, one of the best-known songs in the recent career of the Apulian singer-songwriter, which, referencing Beethoven and Mark Hollis of Talk Talk, compares two different attitudes in composing music. Based on this comparison, we arrive at the next track, “Azzera Pace”, where the contrarian attitude stands out, not only in music but also in life itself; there are references to contemporary society, but at the same time the placement of this song at this point in the album is not accidental; in fact, while here we have the central theme of “wanting to be contrary at all costs”, with the following “Eyes Wide Shut” we reach the Pirandellian concept of wearing a mask to face life: “... io non vado in cerca di me stesso, perché rischio di trovarmi per davvero.” The clear tribute to Kubrick in the title is an element that cinema enthusiasts will quickly notice, just as the hard rock sounds of the track instantly stand out, with distorted guitar and bass riffs. This track, together with “Zeit!” (which hints at industrial metal), represents two of the hardest-hitting moments of the album, extremely effective from a live perspective. “Come Prypiat”, “Il Mondo Come Lewis Carroll” and “La Certa” ultimately take center stage in the last part of this concept album; the first offers a subtle critique of contradiction and hypocrisy in propaganda and social-media communication, while the other two are extremely introspective songs, with Caparezza reflecting on themes such as uncertainty and lack of stimulation, all from the perspective of contemporary society. “Exuvia”, finally, is the title track and a liberating piece of synth pop, where the explicit lyric about rebirth after dark times is amplified by pounding synthesizers that hypnotize the listener; the true conclusion of the album comes however in the very last part of the track, which contains an easter egg audible only with headphones: it is white noise that covers an out-of-phase audio message which says “Ricordati che questo è un disco allegro”.

This final irony is the cherry on top that makes it clear how this artist’s brilliance is now deeply rooted in his musical output, totally independent of the musical demands of the Italian music scene. Unlike his early works, this Exuvia takes a much more songwriting-oriented path, less rooted in traditional rap, and continues the rock shift already seen in Il Sogno Eretico and Museica. This record represents an incredible peak in Michele Salvemini’s career; though complex, it contains catchy moments that spark the desire to explore the album more meditatively.

Together with the subsequent Orbit Orbit and the previous Prisoner 709, this album is part of a “trilogy” that tackles the transition from discomfort, to acceptance, and finally to the new dimension the artist explores in the album that follows. We can therefore conclude by saying that Caparezza, even after many years, can change his musical style and evolve thematically, but will always remain true to himself and his spirit.

Best tracks: “Campione Dei Novanta”, “Eterno Paradosso”, “La Certa”, “Exuvia”