Marlene Kuntz
Nella tua luce

The current Italian indie rock scene is starting to make me nauseous. Bands that are phony and manufactured by the industry with elitist attitudes, singer-songwriters lacking ideas but good at selling themselves to young girls with €1000 cameras, as alternative as my torn underwear, or kids flaunting Warholian tank tops with bananas without ever having listened to a Velvet Underground CD.

Thankfully, there's Marlene who, regardless of market laws and appearances, make music for themselves, for the sheer pleasure of doing it. “Nella tua luce” is their ninth studio album, birthed after a brave and worthwhile experience at Sanremo. The album is like a Caravaggio painting, dark but infused with a light waiting to be unleashed, starting from the enchanting and ethereal atmospheres of the Title Track that kicks things off. “Il genio” and “Senza rete” are pure adrenaline rushes showing how Marlene is still capable of spewing anger in the listener’s face. “Catastrofe” is rich with Marlene-esque melancholy, and the criticism of ignorance in understanding one another is well-directed and effective. Godano can't miss giving us the erudite song like “Osja amore mio,” the sad tale of love and poetry, or his umpteenth search for his Venus of the moment, loved and desired in “Seduzione.” “Adele” is of a disarming sweetness, a piece dedicated to the female world, treated with uncommon empathy, as Cristiano Godano shows sensitivity to sadly current issues. “Giacomo l’eremita” is the album’s least successful piece, much reminiscent of the playful tone and irreverence of Ivan Graziani, likely born from the recent cover of “Monnalisa.”

The concluding “Solstizio,” a gem of the album (hindered by a terrible music video) where light and shadow mingle in a continuous struggle, brings us to the end of this more than accomplished album pleasant and meticulously detailed that you will hardly listen to only a couple of times.