Negramaro
La Finestra

Negramaro is a great rock band from Salento, named (but this might be known by many) after a grape variety from Salento where the band originated in 1999.

"La Finestra" comes out two years after "Mentre tutto scorre," a small gem and a breath of fresh air in the Italian-made pop-rock scene, which launched and consolidated them to the general public after a less known (and much less "commercial," if you will) work like "00057."

What to say about this album? I awaited it with trepidation, and it did not disappoint me; or rather, it was a confirmation, but I didn't notice that surplus, that "extra" I was certain of in anticipation.

It's a beautiful album.

Apart from "Parlami d'amore" with its somewhat banal text in the style of Three Meters Above the Sky, which, like every catchy tune, gets tiring over time, in this album, we find some healthy and good pop-rock with jazz nuances that certainly do not clash.
Compared to "Mentre tutto scorre," "La Finestra" materializes in more refined and elaborate arrangements (it’s a cleaner record than the previous one); music and lyrics form an irresistible mix that creates a strong emotional tension.

Any titles?

Well, clearly the emotion a song gives you is subjective, this has always been repeated in various forms: "Tastes are not to be discussed, you can compare but not discuss them," just to give an example; but for me, among all, stand out "Via le mani dagli occhi"; "La Finestra" which exceptionally drags you along (a real gem); and a truly engaging and, if you will, even poignant ballad like "Una volta tanto (Canzone per me)": how much does it cost you to always tell me? if then always is a lie": simple but not trivial in my opinion; and "Un passo indietro" with piano and Giuliano free to vent all the virtuosity of his voice.

Yes, because Giuliano has a great voice, which, however (and this is not a criticism for its own sake), live does not manage to perform at its best in certain pieces, like "Nuvole e lenzuola" from the previous work, due to the excess of emphasis that the leader of the Salento band puts into live performances.

But perhaps it is precisely this emphasis, this passion that Giuliano puts into every note that makes him so appreciated in the Italian music scene.

The melancholic "Cade la pioggia" also deserves mention, which benefits at the end from the collaboration of Lorenzo Cherubini who, with a very incisive rap, seals the pathos inherent in the piece: "I don't want to stand on the threshold of our life, watching that it's over, clouds passing and releasing rain like stones, and with each step, we forget our steps, the road we have traveled together, casting our seed on the stone, killing us every night, hot raindrops on the sand love, my love, this passion passed like hunger to a lion after it devoured its prey abandoned the bones to the vultures you don't remember (but it was us) the two of us hugging still in the rain while everyone ran for cover... AND OUR LOVE IS GUNPOWDER, the thunder is just a heartbeat, the lightning illuminates without sound AND MY SKIN IS A WHITE SHEET FOR YOUR STORY BUT YOU WRITE THE END I'M READY"

The choir of the Santa Cecilia Theater Academy of Rome also collaborated in the realization of the album in the song "E ruberò per te la luna", a very rock piece with the collaboration of the mentioned choir, truly well-matched and original in the context of the piece.

In total, fourteen songs (and a ghost track) span from rock sounds to more properly pop melodies of ballads that flow smoothly... an album that makes you feel good.

To be listened to without prejudices because it’s easy to shoot useless criticisms, because they are on MTV, they go to Festivalbar and win it, and the teenagers are crazy about them... all this is hot air... and it would still be shooting but then... "target missed"