Ex-Otago
Mezze Stagioni

The Genoese band Ex-Otago has been active for almost ten years, yet they still find themselves playing in front of half-empty audiences where only a few curious onlookers stand. Recently, very recently, they released their third album "Mezze stagioni" where the proposed indie pop music reaches a certain coherence and the lyrics become more mature and analytical towards their peers.

Through the twelve (actually, thirteen) songs encountered in this ochre album, a certain generational unease indeed surfaces, aided by a more skillful use of the Italian language almost always preferred (thank heavens) to the English of some past albums. Over the years, Maurizio Carucci, Alberto Argentesi, Simone Bertuccini, and the new drummer Gabriele Floris (formerly Simone Riccio) have played small concerts all around Italy, always offering a melodic pop made of simple synths, harmless little guitars, and a vision of things that is ironic but never trivial. This is their essence, and it is difficult to ask more of them, but for once, it's fine as it is.

The spirit that pervades this album is that of the discomfort of adulthood, let's call it the thirty-year crisis, so much so that “Una vita col riporto” speaks of those who see the flower of their years withering, while “Figli degli hamburger” humorously describes the values of a generation that is just superficial enough in which Ex-Otago (and with them, I) grew up, meanwhile “Gli Ex-Otago e la Jaguar gialla” speaks again of the thirty-somethings of today, kids from the 90s who danced, or dreamed of doing so, to the disco music paid tribute to in “Dance A.M.” and even more in the cover of “The Rhythm Of The Night" by Corona. Those were the good years when hearing the name Corona made you think of a black dance artist dominating the charts, right? Perhaps yes.

For this reason, "Mezze stagioni" can be better understood by those at a certain point in their growth, which is neither positive nor negative, but simply something that happens, like the first day of school, the first scolding, the first disappointment, the first salary, the driver's license, the first beer. Thus, it also happens to grow up. For this album, the Genoese band relies on the production of Davide Bertolini (already active with Kings Of Convenience), an Italian emigrant in Norway and it is precisely to this theme of escape that "Costa Rica," a melancholic memory of friends who have decided to leave, is dedicated. All this melancholy and this weight due to being grown-up is still filtered with a massive dose of lightheartedness ("Patrizia", amusing) and even admiration for the age of grey hair: "Marco corre", for example, is dedicated to the ultra-endurance runner Marco Olmo, now over sixty.

This album by Ex-Otago is a bit in limbo, in suspense between the frivolity of summer, the hopes of spring, the reflections of autumn, and the assessments of winter; music that does not make one scream a miracle, but prompts reflection with a smile. Do the mid-seasons no longer exist? Here it proves otherwise. A couple of notes on the name: they were formed in 2003 as Otago in honor of a New Zealand rugby team but disbanded 5 minutes later, to reform 10 minutes later as Ex-Otago.