Negramaro
La finestra

Negramaro is a grape variety from Salento, from which comes a wine full-bodied with a warm and bitterish taste, just like Negramaro's music, indeed!

The band, led by Giuliano Sangiorgi, showcased their talent from their early albums: to be truthful, the first album from 2003 is not a real album, but more of a musical experiment, fully supported by producer Caterina Caselli, capable of turning everything she touches into gold. What emerges from this "test album" is a deeply rock soul, with elaborate arrangements and skillfulness in using samples, enough to compare the six Puglian boys to the much more famous Radiohead.

The true debut album is 000577 (2004, Sugar). The difference with the previous work is the new arrangement of four songs (one new, three from the old album) by Negramaro with the collaboration of Corrado Rustici, another magical figure in contemporary music production. The record lays the foundation for a music slightly different from what was experimented on in 2003, suited to a wider audience, but nonetheless interesting.
2005 is the year of change: the album "Mentre tutto scorre" (2005, Sugar), the soundtrack of Alessandro Alatri's film La Febbre starring Fabio Volo, sells a remarkable 380^'000 copies. Four tracks are released as singles: "Mentre Tutto Scorre", "Estate", "Solo 3min", and "Nuvole e Lenzuola". A sensational success, even live. The band then buys a farmhouse in Tuscany to retreat and write in peace, proceeding serenely in the musical project they embarked on.

We then arrive at "La finestra" (2007, Sugar): once again, the team formed by Rustici, Negramaro, and Caselli delivers an excellent and meticulously crafted work, with guaranteed success. The album has a style akin to the previous one: there are very intriguing tracks, such as the title track of the album.

The opening is entrusted to "La Distrazione", an energetic track to be listened to at full volume, followed by "Giuliano Poi Sta Male", a lively pop song that recalls the sounds recently savored in Mika's "Grace Kelly". The third track is the first single extracted from the album, namely "Parlami d'amore": Giuliano Sangiorgi’s vocal talents are fully exploited, achieving a happy contamination of genres, from pop to aggressive rock to electronica. The shy "Un Passo Indietro" is succeeded by the beautiful "L'Immenso", an intense and emotional piece, followed by "La Finestra", a sort of "summary" of the album where a non-trivial text and an arrangement from which all the musical quality of the Salentino band emerges converge. Next, we find "Quel Posto Che Non C'è", a splendid ballad accompanied by the piano, while "Neanche Il Mare", a contemporary serenade with a decisive character, follows. After the rock of "E Ruberò La Luna", we move on to "Cade La Pioggia", a piece that boasts the prestigious collaboration of Lorenzo Cherubini aka Jovanotti, an added value to the already marvelous track. After the acerbic "Via le Mani Dagli Occhi" comes "Una Volta Tanto (Canzone Per Me)", an intimate romantic confession. To close, we return to rock with "Tu Ricordati Di Me", and then finish with "È Così", a delicate and graceful farewell. There is also a ghost track with an experimental cut, a special game with samples.

In conclusion, the work presented by Negramaro is essentially a splendid confirmation of the quality expressed in the previous work and, although the entire opus has an undeniable pop footprint, it cannot be said, as some fierce critics have stated, that the band has betrayed its rock origins to engage in commercial music, with a negative connotation. The transformation that can be noticed by listening to the different record efforts is instead a sign of a maturation process that brought them on the right path to express themselves at best, even in live performances. La finestra is without any doubt a record that deserves to be listened to and will not go unnoticed in the contemporary Italian music scene.