Carmen Consoli
L'Eccezione

THE REVIEW

I had my punk phase, Guccini, the '80s one, then Bluvertigo, the Italian niche hip-hop phase, even the Techno/Rave one, and I've recently been trying to get out of the Non voglio che Clara phase... Well, there was also the Carmen Consoli phase. And it was a long phase... started in '97 when I bought the first two albums together.

The track that gives the single its title represents a return to the roots: the sounds, with an ancient flavor, are strongly tied to Sicilian tradition. A soft and enveloping rhythmic cadence to accompany a direct yet deep and deeply relevant text. It's an invitation to look in the mirror and reflect silently on what has been accomplished, setting aside moral nobility, perhaps due to conformity or subordination, forgetting to consider what is right or wrong and depriving oneself of the luxury of holding one's head high.
It's advice to look to the future in a constructive way, understanding mistakes made and learning from them. The chorus, simply ingenious, precisely conveys the idea that now everything has a price: ambition is always followed by an offer, but money is as fleeting as acting desires, soon fulfilled and forgotten. In this regard, an example is made by citing Faust, an alchemist from the first half of the sixteenth century, made famous by Marlowe and Goethe for his legendary pact with the devil and the relative exchange of his soul for power and knowledge.

Track number two is nothing short of moving: "Moderato in RE minore" essential version (voice and guitar) or in English "rough mix" as suggested on the left side of the cover. Christmas Eve is rarely described from the perspective of a professor surrounded by a sense of loneliness that can only be compensated by a cup of warm milk and philosophy texts. However, the glance towards them is fleeting, and the transience of everything he has managed to build is evident.
The choice of words is beautiful to convey that awareness does not arrive suddenly but verse after verse, gradually rethinking everything he could have done but didn't.
1) embarrassment
2) frustration
3) dissatisfaction
Carmen merely describes the situation, as if it were a painting. The voice is adeptly used and easily transforms words into images. It's a chilling sensation that I fear I've seen in the eyes of some people.

The last track is a live version of "Lingua a sonagli": the second single from the first album "Dueparole." A pleasant testimony to the aggressiveness of the stage in expressing dismay and anger at others' slander. The artist from Catania has dealt with gossip ('u curtigghiu) from a young age, and I find the choice to make a song about it very original.

"I suffer to see you break the principals on which an exemplary dignity was solid." (from the song "L'eccezione")

Note: I recovered a couple of lines from my post dated 11/11/02 on the official Cantantessa forum.