Riccardo Sinigallia
Ciao Cuore

Riccardo Sinigallia is perhaps the most intriguing figure in the entire Italian singer-songwriter scene.

His story begins in the late '80s, in a cover band that included the then-unknown Niccolò Fabi and Francesco Zampaglione (brother of the more famous Federico, with whom he would later form Tiromancino); even back then, he started to propose original pieces written by himself, but he faced difficulties in starting a personal project. He thus dedicated himself to collaboration and arrangement activities: his touch is present in the early works of Fabi himself (“Capelli,” “Rosso,” “Vento d’estate,” and the masterpiece “Lasciarsi un giorno a Roma”), and even the chorus of the megahit “Quelli che benpensano” by Frankie Hi-Nrg is his. The turning point came, however, in 2000: Riccardo produced and co-wrote entirely all the tracks on the album that marked Tiromancino's breakthrough, “La descrizione di un attimo,” which finally allowed him to debut as a solo artist in 2003 with an eponymous album that diverges from Italian singer-songwriter conventions to embrace sounds closer to Radiohead's post-“Ok Computer” phase.

A second solo album more classically singer-songwriter in nature would follow, alongside a clear departure from the singing career (“only fifteen bored people came to my concerts”), to pursue a brilliant career as a producer, until 2014, the year in which he makes a grand return with a participation in Sanremo (with a consequent disqualification, as one of the two pieces presented had already been performed live prior) and an album that finally receives a bit more attention.

Today, four years later, Sinigallia tries again. Perhaps to give continuity to this new second singer-songwriter life, or maybe because the atmosphere toward good Italian songwriting is significantly better than it was twelve years ago: guess who produced the debut of the new sensation Motta?

And it is precisely Motta who plays on several tracks of this new “Ciao Cuore,” preceded by a single in full Sinigallia style and a partial return to the pop lightly dusted with electronics of the Roman singer-songwriter's early works. The “tiromancinismi” remain (“Che male c’è,” “A cuor leggero”), and the opener “So delle cose che so” really feels too much like Francesco Motta (no surprise there), but the compactness, productive wisdom, and brevity of the work (“not everything deserves to be included in an album”) do the rest and deliver a remarkable and well-crafted album.

The never intrusive percussion in “Dudù,” the sharp sarcasm of “Le donne di destra,” and the updated Battisti in “Bella quando vuoi” complete the picture of an album resulting from a patient and targeted process of chiseling, as only the best artisans know how to do.

We can only hope it finally gives Sinigallia the wide recognition he certainly deserves.

Best track: Dudù