Michele Pieraccini
In volo

A few weeks ago marked the release of the new album by Michele Pieraccini (an artist from Sassari with his second work after "Il gioco dell'oca", which was only a collection of "covers") titled "In volo". We had the privilege of listening to Pieraccini's work in advance and must confess we were pleasantly surprised by the beauty of this album, enjoyable from the very first listen and certainly of such high quality that it has nothing to envy compared to many much more famous albums released during this scorching summer.

The album opens with "In volo", the song that gives the album its title and was chosen by the artist as the "leading" track—a choice that proved to be spot-on, thanks in part to heavy rotation on local radio. The track is decidedly catchy and easy to remember, as is "Specchio, Specchio", a typically summery piece, highly ironic but with a clear message (a "buffoonish" praise of vanity) that immediately reaches the listener, where the "brass" section takes center stage.
But there are many unforgettable tracks in this "child" (as he likes to call it) of Pieraccini: from "Barone Rosso" to the not easy "Altro che gioia" (in terms of lyrics, certainly one of the highest points) leading to the poignant "Io scrivo di te", considered by this reviewer as the most beautiful song on the CD, where the sax of the excellent GianPiero Carta (Isthentales) emits notes that melt the heart to the point of emotion.

A flawless album then? Absolutely not! Here and there, for example, one can perhaps feel too much the influence that Renato Zero had on the artistic growth of the Sardinian singer-songwriter, but Pieraccini is aware of this and in fact, in "La voce" he takes a decisive step back from this influence and declares it bluntly ("Zero non canterò più il cielo resto io uguale io"..).

Excellent lyrics (by Pieraccini himself) and excellent music by Gabriele Masala (another young island songwriter), but it should also be highlighted that the best Sardinian musicians played on this album (from Paolo Zannin to Uccio Soro to Carlo and Paolo Pieraccini and many others besides the already mentioned GianPiero Carta..) while a special mention goes to Jò Erre for the excellent arrangements.