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Rating: Tremendously pissed off, tremendously wise, tremendously true.
This is how I want to describe the new Francesco Adessi and the Maggiori Dissonanze in what appears to be his last masterpiece, "Alle spalle," an album that mocks many of the records currently on the Italian market, even though it is not yet well-known. The CD is self-produced and contains a substantial 12 songs, all written, composed, and arranged by Francesco himself, the singer and leader of the group. Each song may seem standalone, but in reality, each is linked to its predecessor and successor by a single thread: watch your back to avoid getting stabbed by false friends, don't trust those who only talk and never act, and no matter how hard you try, improve, and manage to achieve sometimes impossible things, in life it seems that this is never enough, as if every endpoint is always and only a new starting point.
The lyrics are clear, raw, and precise, they speak for themselves and require no further explanation. And I like that. I am truly bored with this Italian commercial context where mainly (not to say sometimes ONLY) songs emerge with lyrics that are like salads dressed with the usual words "sole cuore amore nuvole e parole," and this writing style provided by Francesco Adessi is like holy water: it embodies in one go great sonic taste and great textual significance. You can feel he has a lot to say, that he's been through a lot, and that he has something to fire at quite a few bastards, and he does it in his most intimate, singular, and profound way, sometimes with rawness, sometimes with irony, but never with wanton banality. It's very difficult to channel him indeed. Given the great catchiness of the songs, it undoubtedly is a pendant of the colorful pop necklace, but at the same time, it stands out from all the common sounds currently prevalent in Italy. The arrangements and music have a decidedly international imprint, and they intertwine perfectly with a way of textual drafting that is instead radically Italian. This unusual but successful intertwining is a continuous catapulting of the listener into different and interesting worlds: in "Alle Spalle," the song that shares its name with the album, one can almost perceive a sound search that takes us back to the slightly computerized effects used by The Postal Service, combined with a rhythmic pace yet relaxed, almost cradling our hips. In the ballad "Don’t trust me," the only song with Anglo-Saxon words, we find ourselves comfortably seated on a vintage chair in a London underground club, with a single, 'incredible' indeed, phrase repeating randomly, while in the background, the music is a continuous growth and evolution, exploding only to return to its original simple and minimal form from which it started.
"Cado in piedi," on the other hand, pushes us almost to the edge of electronic pop-dance that you might almost think of the good old (Once upon a time!!) formation of Subsonica, with those acid and captivating sounds, but with the first sung note you immediately withdraw this comparison, you realize the text expresses a strength and rawness that well distances itself from the sometimes 'transcendental' Subsonic texts. Flaws? So far, I have found none, apart from the fact that Francesco Adessi and the Maggiori Dissonanze are a truly valid self-produced group but not yet, alas, excellently promoted. And moreover, the singer is also a very handsome guy, so how could you say no to him? :)
Great job, I am convinced it will soon yield its well-deserved fruits, meanwhile, I take the opportunity to compliment them, and spread the word here because, in my modest opinion, they deserve a lot. If the review has whetted your appetite... google them, it's not hard to find them ;)
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