Elisa
Diari Aperti

It's strange when you realize that Diari Aperti is the tenth studio album by Elisa Toffoli. More than twenty years have passed since Pipes & Flowers introduced "the girl from Trieste who sings in English" to the Italian audience.

Why is it strange? Because on one hand, Elisa still gives you that air of the young girl who wins Sanremo, while on the other hand, you know she is a musician, composer, and songwriter with such an immense background that there's no need to detail it here. I suppose Elisa is one of those people who age like fine wine.

Diari Aperti is Elisa's album with the most special lyrics and arrangements, according to the author of this review.

Diari Aperti - or rather, parts of it - was one of those albums I never expected could enrich me, despite having followed Elisa for years. There is a before and an after.

Come Fosse Adesso, Tua Per Sempre, Anche Fragile and Se Piovesse Il Tuo Nome (the latter written by Calcutta) are tracks that obviously deal with love dynamics, but they do so in the least clichéd way possible.

And when you run with your invisible cloak
I will run with you because we run together
even if then we are alone we contradict each other and you don't ask me
I will be there for you
and without any moral without it being written
without reason or wrong it will never be or maybe it will be soon
I hold you tight and then I carry you inside

Come here
but bring your eyes and heart
I'll bring you an ice cream
that you can't eat
and we'll cry together
because you never cry

We have never dedicated
dedicated the right songs to ourselves
maybe because no one
ever talks about us

We never told each other the words
we never said the right words
not even by mistake
not even by mistake in silence

Among the words of these songs, what strikes is not just the excellent arrangement, the guitar (Andrea Rigonat, Elisa's husband) or the piano; it's the linguistic usage, the warmth of a real and tangible relationship. Zero frills.