Giovanni Block
Retrò

Born in 1984, already a winner of the Tenco Prize in 2008 as an emerging artist, and recipient of other minor awards. He already has some work behind him, more or less ignored by the masses so far; boasts noteworthy collaborations (Sergio Cammariere, Fabrizio Bosso, Arnoldo Foà, Petra Magoni, and others) but I'm discovering him only now (Spotify's suggestions occasionally take a good turn).
This Retro seems to go beyond his previous work, it has a good taste of authentic singer-songwriter style and is overall a well-achieved project in lyrics, music, and arrangements.
What is Retro like? Nostalgic (well, nostalgic and retro should be synonyms), romantic, sarcastic, bitter, realistic.
What is Retro not like? Sappy, predictable, kind-hearted, incoherent, auto-tuned.

It is so realistic and so authentic that crowdfunding was used to make it, which in simple terms means that sentient people, in flesh, bone, and wallets, trusted a man after he proved worthy of that trust. And after months of work, a record was born, which in my humble opinion has repaid that trust excellently!

The first single released from the album is Vi odio: a seemingly misanthropic song where he claims to hate practically everyone, but in reality, it's not true; he only hates the people and situations that somehow break his balls (and you can't blame him). Hating and denouncing human flaws is, in a way, more similar to philanthropy, so he hates us but actually loves us. In my opinion, it's not the best track on the album, good lyrics but after a few listens it gets boring. But... wait! This is the perfect description of any radio track! So let it be the album's exit track, may it do you good!
The album has much better tracks and being, indeed, singer-songwriter (retro, moreover), embedded within love songs are excellent critiques of contemporary society and its hypocrisies (which era hasn’t had them?).

Edoardo Bennato, La Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel, Teresa De Sio... when Campania speaks Italian, it often [but not always, ndr (GDA in this case)] manages to positively surprise me. And then, how wonderful it is to hear the personal pronoun "tu" instead of the horrific "te" that is so beloved in the north?

While the wind clears the sky
and the night falls lower
I remember from behind a glass
that I live because there is you

Will we hear more of Giovanni Block in the future? Let's hope, but in a music market dominated by the likes of Fedez, it's not a safe bet.

I close with an excerpt from each song:
- I pariolini give us life lessons and love songs
- I remember that instead of a heart I cultivate deception
- Hatred abounds as I read these comments under every discussion
- Every memory has a clean face and the bandage of someone who has healed, and appears in dreams dressed only in the best of what was
- Let's make it 35, if it turns out well maybe 40, I'll climb wherever you want, if you pay that's what matters
- While you fail and try again, I miss you...
- We are on the same world that makes us feel distant and lost
- If you can, make me die in my sleep after I've made love again
- Don't count time, for it's time that counts you
- Death will come, and it will have your eyes, and that day we will also know that you're life, that you're nothing