Plan De Fuga
In A Minute

-Aside from everything, Italian music is really crap; I mean, we have Gigi d'Alessio and they have Muse- says Adri, somewhat convincing himself he's right.

-Depends on what you listen to, my dear,- I say to him -I can easily dismiss what you just said as nonsense-. When it comes to music, I become horribly pretentious, but it's fun.

-Well, who do we have? The Finley?- he says again, increasingly confident-.

- You're forgetting Afterhours, Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, Marta sui Tubi...- I tell him. At "Marta sui Tubi" he makes a strange face and replies with a "What the hell does that mean?". I turn a blind eye, pretend I didn't hear. -And then there are the Plan de Fuga...- I add.

By the way, Plan De Fuga was a very pleasant surprise a few months earlier, and they were recommended to me by a friend who had seen them at Heineken. After hearing "Twice" and "Never A Need" I decided to buy the CD "In A Minute".

This isn't just a review; it's also a declaration of love:

The album starts with "In A Minute", the title track, a kind of intro-synthesis of the album. Amidst the songs Filippo De Paoli's voice advances like a snake: at times it glides, slow, then jolts, slices and dices the air. Filippo hisses and screams, letting emotions guide his warm vocal cords; what emerges are melodies sometimes sinuous and dancing (see "Violaine"), sometimes raw, as in the chorus of the beautiful "Never A Need" with that "Come undone...", a punch to the stomach and a good chocolate, because it hurts, but the sense of emptiness the punch leaves you is a candy to savor.

"Twice" and "Your Side" are the two singles that are leaving their unmistakable footprints on Virgin Radio, which lately is playing them more and more willingly. And they are indeed radio-friendly, but in the good sense of the word (if a good sense exists, you tell me; I like them, a lot!). They are kind of the band's trademark, for originality and catchiness: if you want to know Plan De Fuga, it's "Twice" you should listen to.

"Decadance" and "Blame" are original, let's say special, the first for its funk rhythm, the second for that riff, acidic, almost synthetic, short but effective. In both cases, the bass paints magnificent lines, here bouncing, there pounding, an unexpected protagonist.

Everything changes in "Never A Need", it's dark, it's macabre in the verses, where Filippo gives his best, aided by ethereal echoes, it's mean, it's terribly hard, in the chorus. But the gem is "Violaine", and chills run when the snare drum announces the chorus, slow in its advance. Throughout the song, the sweet piano melody alternates with the voice, increasingly dreamy. The music stops and resumes, with class, the breaks are so well-timed that they would go unnoticed were it not for Filippo's melody, which with his "my petite" insinuates, digs, scratches the heart.

Then it ends, lightly, leaving you a bit of anger and a bit of sweetness in your chest.

-And who are these Plan De Fuga?- Adri insinuates.

-Forget it, you wouldn't understand-, I'm being a jerk now. And I change the subject.