Negramaro
Casa 69

Three years after the previous "La finestra," the Salento band returns with this "Casa 69," which presents itself as a concept album founded on the difficulty, increasingly prevalent today, in communication and relating to others.

In my opinion, with this album, Negramaro have made a leap in quality, synthesizing their entire artistic journey and identifying themselves with a sound that makes them easily recognizable. I've always believed that the secret to their success is making music that can potentially reach everyone, but well-packaged so that being commercial does not turn into banality; in "Casa 69," this can be noticed, and there are also daring attempts to propose a sound that is not immediately impactful with some interesting experimentation.

"Casa 69" and "Londra brucia" are examples: Lele's guitar is beautiful in the first claustrophobic track, and the ending of the second track is wonderful with Giuliano's dreamy voice, which here becomes particularly melancholic; rock is very present, transitioning from tracks that aptly identify that "Negramaro sound" ("Sing-hiozzo", "Io non lascio traccia", "Manchi", "Se un giorno mai", "Senza te", "Voglio molto di più", a track from the soundtrack of Placido's film "Vallanzasca-gli angeli del male") to bold tracks with almost nu-metal nuances and references not easily impactful ("Dopo di me", "Polvere", "è tanto che dormo"). There is also "Luna", a somewhat atypical rock track for Negramaro that reminds me a bit of the latest Negrita.

There's no lack of melody to which Giuliano is surely very attached: "Apollo 11" delivers a very intimate piano and voice Sangiorgi, "Basta così" as a duet with Elisa is enriched by the orchestra of the great Mauro Pagani; and "Quel matto sono io" a beautiful piece that personally reminds me in some passages of the great Modugno.

Also worth mentioning is "Il gabbiano" a song-rock operetta that reminds me of the Muse style: in my view, this piece is another successful experiment.

To conclude, the two bonus tracks: "Lacrime" a beautiful and visceral rock ballad, and "Comunque vadano le cose (scusa Mimì)" an acoustic track enriched by Pupillo's accordion.

In summary, a beautiful, heartfelt, and sincere work that presents us with a close-knit group that I am convinced will once again offer the best of themselves in their live performances, always the most congenial for them as with all great bands.