NUJU
Atto Secondo

For a while, the overdone patchanka genre hadn't managed to awaken me from the stupor of mere uninterested and detached listening. I've never liked the mixture of ingredients that had no minimal connection between them. I've always considered patchanka a garish and tacky union of elements that would have a reason on their own.

"Atto Secondo", however, overturns my convictions. "Atto Secondo" is not the patchanka that tormented us for years to the beat of "Tum-pa Tum-pa". The Nuju are capable of revolutionizing the term and ennobling it. Nuju is auteur music, involving and interesting lyrics, sometimes a bit naive; but it's a matter of time and age; and this "Waits" Jonico has the talent, and he's got it all.

The single "Disegnerò" is interesting, visionary, and playful. Online, there's a video clip that's going viral but doesn't fully do justice to a track that in itself has scripts of a much higher caliber and reference.

The Nuju now focus on the frenzy of society, after discussing the precariousness in their previous album. They claim that today we must balance while at the same time move fast without falling, and this reduces everything to distance from human relationships, ethics, and ideologies; and they're probably not wrong.

The Nuju narrate with irony and, being from Calabria, they draw inspiration from Rino Gaetano. They attempt to merge folk-rock with author's music and succeed, hoping that one day good music can meet the interest of those who pull the strings of what is called "Pop".

Interesting cameos are those of the "Ramblers" Francesco Moneti, who enriches the first act (Parto) of "Atto Secondo", one of the most successful tracks of the album in my opinion, and the "Movement" where world experimentation, electronics, and grit are well balanced perhaps thanks to that touch of savored Mediterranean that the multi-percussion of Mandara Gennaro de Rosa offers us.

Atto Secondo is Nuju's growth album, assuring us that the path they've taken is the right one, the band is cohesive, the ideas are alive, and the tools to express them are all there.

The Nuju are a colorful and bright product, like the confetti and lyrics of Fabrizio Cariati, stable and secure like the guitars of Marco Ambrosi, cheeky and naive like the drums of Stefano Stalteri, sincere and generous like the percussion of Roberto Simina, balanced and discreet like the basses of Giuseppe Licciardi and introverted and poetic like the accordions of Roberto Virardi.

Atto Secondo is a powerful and clear response to the new wave of auteur music, lacking musical constructions, dull in content, loaded with emptiness that wears intellectual clothing and hides under the name of: Indie songwriter.

If the alternative to national popular is indie songwriting, let's all listen to "NUJU" (transl. Calabrian for Nobody). It is "sharp" music like this that deserves the "auteur" spaces and recognitions.