Negrita
Dannato Vivere

They probably don't make peace with the fans anchored to the sacred "Radio Zombie", "Reset", and "Negrita", but the globetrotting Arezzo band has certainly strengthened the path traced in "Helldorado" with this latest album. This is particularly evident in the second track, "Fuori controllo". The sound is very varied and, as usual, they have managed to surprise once again.

After opening with a rhythmic "Junkie Beat", you immediately face the two singles "Fuori controllo" and "Brucerò per te". The former is dedicated to us young people and the hope that something in this world truly changes, through us, while the latter is a slower, somewhat dragged-out song, dedicated to the wife who is not doing well at all. According to the writer, Pau, the singer, has never truly opened his heart to his pen as in this text, and the piano riff accompanying the base is played by him.

This is followed by slightly less rock tracks but full of moral and emotional significance, discussing the global crisis from the point of view of the average man who has an "aim" that, according to the writer, is not well represented by the music ("Immobili" is the track). "Il giorno delle verità" and "Splendido" (which I will revisit later) deserve mention for both the lyrical value and the engaging music, especially as guitarist Drigo, who had left us with "Tutto bene" in the album "L'uomo sogna di volare", returns singing: in one he makes an anthem to life, in the other he shows all his warmth, but a nice surprise awaits the listener at the end.

The emphasis of the sound drops a bit until the sparse, Rolling Stone-style dedication to Sunday with "Bonjour" before returning with the last three tracks that, according to the writer, are among the best on the album: "La musica leggera è potentissima", "Panico", and "Splendido". The first deserves the prize for best track on the album for the uniqueness of the sound that I would dare define as "Global", as it features electronics, dub, funk reminiscent of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and a chorus shouted to the world without regard to meter; the lyrics criticize those who try to label them at all costs in one single genre, something they've always been allergic to.

The enthusiasm, now recovered, continues to soar with the fast "Panico", a track with a strong punk component meant for pogoing under the stage, which slightly mocks the fear that spreads among people today for pandemic, terrorists, and so on. The album closes with "Splendido", a track that begins as a ballad, cradled by Drigo's voice, until halfway where the drummer (still Cristiano Dalla Pellegrina, in the role of eternal session musician) opens the doors to a majestic conclusion of pounding punk rhythm accompanied by strings and Drigo's voice, telling of the unstoppable impetuosity of love's arrival in our life. A track that could one day replace MamaMaé for concert closures.

As for the composition, we could say they had fun in the sense that Pau plays the bass on 6 out of the 13 tracks; Drigo, Pau himself, and Mac (the other guitarist) have found good sounds with the synthesizer and sequencer, which, along with the addition of DJ John Type to the team, ensured that among the ingredients of this rich dish was also electronics. A good album that, like many, needs to be listened to several times and, over time, one can hear the sounds reminiscent of U2, the marked reggae sound of the guitars, and many other contaminations that Negrita always manage to infuse into their records. Enjoy the listening.