Cristina Donà
La Quinta Stagione

"And fly over endless fields heading south/then touch your wings with mine without going down./You must believe that there is nothing impossible in the world./If you land in the shadow, remember the light even if it is hidden."

"Migrazioni"

The new work of Cristina Donà is a surprising journey into a very intimate and personal dimension, an album that, from its title, "La Quinta Stagione", highlights its sweet and refined side and I haven't heard such an excellent selection of songs in a while. Ten tracks, more than enough to fill 38 minutes of splendid sounds and very successful melodies that highlight the complex and sometimes enigmatic lyrics. In the previous work , "Dove Sei Tu", the songs derived much of their beautiful vital lifeblood from the numerous contaminations and alternative musical paths that the musician decided to embark upon; well with "La Quinta Stagione" this trend continues and the final result is definitely interesting.

Produced by Peter Walsh (brother of Greg, producer of "Don Giovanni" by Lucio Battisti) many of its tracks have references both to the "white" production of Battisti and to the British tradition of experimentation; in Italy, instead, at some points it seems that Donà is inspired by Alice's more complex albums, "Mezzogiorno Sulle Alpi" and "Charade". Choosing music made of sensations and small perceptions ("it's time to cleanse the thought" she sings in "Settembre") is the pivot on which the entire album revolves, there are multiple sounds, rustles, distant echoes between the songs and within the songs that cannot fail to amaze the listener. Ten small tracks that are perfectly harmonized between complex and articulated songs. The splendid "Settembre" opens in a refined way among slow-moving acoustic guitar textures and minimal music with small bursts of mellotron. "Universo" is a concession to more radio-friendly tones, but the opening of the chorus with the singing becoming light and almost cosmic is wonderful; more catchy tones then that sublimely accompany the beautiful lyrics "Tell me about the Universe/of a stellar code that cannot die/Of souls in continuous movement and nuclear embraces extended in the immensity".

An absolute masterpiece is "I Duellanti", an acoustic guitar riff opens this song perfect in melody and especially in arrangement, the musical base is sparse but the use of voice and the accompanying instrumentation (twelve-string guitar) is sublime, and the lyrics are once again very intense, "What are those flowers clutched in the cold hand/cold like this evening that scrutinizes us in the room/in the room of memories where you returned to bring me your apologies and a reverent bow." "Migrazioni" is a tribute to Lucio Battisti's "Si Viaggiare", once again a very beautiful song, the use of strings and the reprise of the chorus give chills. "Come Le Lacrime", "Laure", "Conosci" splendidly contribute to defining the manifesto of this work, a season of the soul suspended with very weak and undefined borders, musically translated with a non-linear and very often difficult language. Music that is slow at first, then accelerated, raw and refined at the same time, a splendid suspension from the eternal references, ultimately a splendid album.