Lisa Germano
No Elephants

January 15 2013: Lisa Germano has never been so unnoticed. Reaching her ninth labor (I love to define Germano's works this way because they are real 'maternal efforts'), unlike the playful Magic Neighbour, the more depressed and angry Lisa returns, who accompanied us throughout the '90s, in an album that, as can already be inferred from the title, albeit cryptic, and the gloomy and shocking cover (where that tacky and baroque taste of what appears to be a local porcelain, related to that of the famous Geek The Girl, peeks out again) talks about animals. And it is precisely through the verses of these beings that the singer describes her frustrations and pains, accompanying them with deep apathy.

The album also revolves around a careful and meticulous analysis by Germano of how man is literally mistreating the enchanting fauna of Mother Nature: we find protest songs like 'Haunted', with its unmistakable lyrics (Who can say?\Who can say,\Where are all the animals?\There are days they go away\To where I stay sometimes\Safely, safely put dow), or instrumentals like 'Dancing of the Bees', where, thanks to the skilled yet delicate use of electronics, and animal verses, we find a swarm of bees annoyed by the noise of a cell phone. Perhaps it is her love for animals ('...and So On'), Lisa is deeply concerned for this world, of which she does not have good news, and makes us reflect in the splendid 'A Feast': Same horror stories they wouldn't believe\Give your good self a break\What of the foie gras, God help us all, and where she repeats incessantly: How in the world?

As mentioned before, however, the animals are also the personifications of Lisa's anger as in ‘Ruminants’, where Lisa says she needs 4 stomachs to face and endure (the current situation of humanity towards animals? Her current apathetic life?), or even in ‘Strange Bird’ (All around\Strange bird\When I'm gone\In my head\Cover me\All alone ).

Musically speaking, the album is worthy of Lisa's dualism: sweet, delicate, ethereal yet also poignant, angry, painful. Thanks to the use of the piano in practically the entire album ('...and So On', 'No Elephants', 'Last Straws for Sale', 'Haunted'), her beloved violin ('Diamonds'), some mild electronics ('A Feast', 'Dancing of the Bees) and animal verses and choruses (the crows in 'Ruminants', the frequently mentioned bees in 'Dancing of the Bees' and the many animal voices creating the imperceptible background of '...and So On') Lisa constructs this 'demonic' apathy that led her to deal with animals, nature, and her ever-present feelings.

Lisa still has stories to tell, even though she has been over fifty for a while and is still trying to 'live on music alone' (quote), even if this album has been less appreciated than the previous ones.

5 Full, worth listening.

Recommended tracks: ‘Ruminants’, ‘The Apathy and the Devil’, ‘A Feast’, ‘Dancing of the Bees’, ‘...and So On’, ‘Strange Bird’.