Gigi D'Alessio
Made In Italy

LA RECENSIONE

Uh-oh, it has been pointed out to us that this review also appears on Livecity.it signed by Federico Armeni.

If this is "made in Italy", it's better to buy in China.

The new album by the Neapolitan singer-songwriter is called "Made in Italy", a choice that is nothing short of risky to make. Made in Italy means saying: this is Italian music. It also means saying: this is the Italian dialectic and literature. This is Italian art.

Listening to the album repeatedly, one realizes that the major error lies precisely in the artist's hubris in naming his album this way, and even worse in describing as "made in Italy" music made with very little inventiveness and lyrics that are anything but special. One might call it simple, but simplicity is a virtue. D'alessio's words, from "open your arms and let me feel you on my chest" to "it's a dream, it's a little special" to "a kiss and then I sit" are simply speaking about something, with no artistic interpretation. The problem is the combination with that music, so incredibly drawn from already heard and reheard canonical standards.

And to think that D'alessio's path seemed downhill with the opening track ("Brividi d'amore"), the only episode of an attempt at distinctiveness by the singer, with those modern rhythms, those filtered sounds, and that confident and extended voice. A text not to be thrown away. The embarrassing "Besame", "Nome cognome indirizzo e cellulare" and "Ilaria" are objectively parodic, laughable for how foolish and shallow the perspective of everything one hears is.
The voice and piano ballads, on the other hand, are not so terrible, but they reside, as we said before, within prepackaged concepts and preconceptions that form the "perfect Italian cliché". And the merits linked to some well-studied sounds are perhaps to be found in the production rather than the writing of the tracks.
The insane attempt of this album is to make believe that Italian music is still completely closed to its borders and rooted in infantile and "easy to use" formulas.

"Made in Italy" is a conservative album, a train running against the current, music fighting against time, as if trying to fight against development, evolution, and culture. Let's hope that abroad they don't take it seriously, even though it must be said that the Italian discography is not doing much to make others believe, but first and foremost ourselves, that Italy produces music of an entirely different caliber.

Tracklist:
" Brividi d'amore "
" Primo appuntamento "
" Una volta nella vita "
" Un cuore malato "
" Apri le braccia "
" Canterò di te "
" Parlarti e poi "
" Ilaria "
" Besame "
" Nome, cognome, indirizzo e cellulare "
" La grande storia "