Mariella Nava
Dentro Una Rosa

When reading about Mariella Nava, it's inevitable to encounter the controversies she herself raised about being excluded from the latest Sanremo Festival, or the less significant press releases that trace the artist's career, almost as if to justify the validity of each of her works, even future ones. Even worse are those reports pointing out the peculiarity of the new album titled "Dentro una rosa", whose cover releases a fragrant scent.

Yet, something else should be written about Mariella Nava, a woman who writes (well) and sings (well) what she writes. The latest album marks a definitive transition in her career, reaffirms her innate talent, but adds an element that seemed missing in the last two works: the sincerity of inspiration. Musically, the album evokes the Italian melody of the '70s, the early albums of Baglioni; in the arrangements, entrusted to real orchestrations, the '70s emerge like nostalgia, partially redeeming the anachronistic effect of some solutions. And even the interpretation is influenced by the "Romanity" of the street songs like "Porta Portese", a characteristic that Mariella Nava seems unwilling to renounce.

The album is a pleasure to listen to: its artistic quality is undeniable. It's a pity that the singer-songwriter can't completely shed a certain rhetorical vein (inherited from Renato Zero) and melodramatic flair (perhaps inherited from Amedeo Minghi and Renato Serio). But rhetoric is a common flaw even of the new generations (listen to Simone Cristicchi or the very talented Samuele Bersani), and both the press and industry do nothing but encourage it.

This is the tracklist of the album: "Dentro una rosa", "Preludio", "Via della poesia", "Un treno", "Fade out", "La piazza", "Spendi qualcosa per me", "Gli ultimi", "Vita sui capelli", "Guarda giù", "La strada", "Portami con te", "Finale".