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Rating: Lola left Romania when she was a young girl, she moved to France, experienced Paris, forgot Ceausescu, discovered that even in the West all that glitters is not gold. Lola grew up, broke out of her shell, traveled countless roads, made choices—some right, some wrong. Lola encountered the anti-globalization movement and what many call extremism, perhaps forgetting the greed of multinationals and neo-fascist violence. Lola fought, shouted, lived, then she wrote a novel, revealing all of herself, but evidently, it wasn't enough. She started singing and now has recorded an album, pouring into her songs her story, her ideals, her experiences, her memories.
I listen to this album and it seems like I can see her walking this challenging path with her head held high, with a touch of naivety, with youthful pride and much courage, the courage of ideas that are increasingly rare in these times of barren practicality. Sing Lola, sing, make us feel that there are still people who believe in something, who are not afraid to say it to others. Sing Lola, sing, tell us about your world of resistance, but also of hope. Sing Lola, sing, make us vibrate with these strange and fascinating musical mixtures between East and West, from the Balkans to the Parisian suburbs. Sing Lola, sing with your traveling companions who between Belgium, Macedonia, France, Serbia, Belarus make up a small European melting-pot, more authentic than those driven solely by the calculation of the deficit/GDP ratio.
The acoustic guitars play, joining piano, accordion, and samples, becoming a backdrop for granite words that Lola interprets passionately like a delicate nightingale. Her gentle voice doesn’t seem like a cry of outraged protest but rather sneaks into the heart and reaches the stomach, thus becoming a lever for consciences.
Sing Lola, sing, tell with your voice what is wrong, don’t lower your head. Sing Lola, sing, remind us how pointless and stupid war is, whichever it may be. Show us once again that culture is beautiful only when it becomes a great whore, so even "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones can become a splendid popular ballad worthy of a folk-rock chansonnier. And don’t be afraid to mix a distorted electric guitar with an Italian partisan song of the past - "e seppellire lassù in montagna sotto l'ombra di un bel fior" - that some would like to forget. Sing Lola, sing, someone will turn their head away, someone else will cover their ears, and there will be no lack of those who will want to silence your voice, but you sing, sing nonetheless, because there will be those who will listen.
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