Songs With Other Strangers
Live - Freemuzik Brescia - 15.01.2005

THE REVIEW

You are trembling with excitement; it's a pleasure to watch you, "Bravo Stef!" is all you can say at times. I chuckle a bit, and Stef is naturally Stef Kamil Carlens, the mind and soul of your beloved Zita Swoon. It's only for him – with the most Belgian face I've ever seen under that bob haircut – that we came all the way to Brescia, ready to challenge even the fog, which then found something else to do and doesn't know what it missed.

The stage of Freemuzik is small, and they have a hard time fitting everyone: Bravo Stef, Manuel Agnelli, Marta Collica, Cesare Basile, John Parish, Roberta Castoldi, Jean Marc Butty, Giorgia Poli, Hugo Race. All top-notch musicians who had already crossed paths in past productions and decided to put together a project called Songs With Other Strangers, which could be subtitled How Wonderful It Is to Play with Friends. Sure, it's not a revolutionary concept, but that's exactly how it goes, and they are beautiful to watch as they share instruments and songs amidst hugs, smiles, and pats on the back.

The setlist includes tracks chosen from their latest albums, plus songs they collectively love. They alternate between rhythmic pieces and slow, intense ones; the most moving ones: "Whatshadoing," "To Speak Of Love," "Midas Touch," and "State Trooper," but whose are they? I don't know, (except "Whatshadoing," of course, which is in A Song About A Girls) but maybe that's the essence of it, here the songs belong to everyone, each one sings or plays others' songs making them their own with passion and all due respect.

And I don't know if you've influenced me with your boundless love for him, but it seemed to me that everyone succumbed to Stef's charisma, "Of course, they recognize natural talent," you tell me, as if it were normal. I mean, even figures of Parish's caliber or with egos as large as Agnelli, who this time stands out for his unusually discreet presence, sings his "Tutto Fa Un Po' Male" yes, but then mostly sways his little backside, playing along with tambourine and maracas.

The only "regret": the vocal interpretation of too many songs is entrusted to the nonexistent voice of Marta Collica, and it's a shame, especially when there are two other formidable and contrasting voices like Stef's tender one (like a tear on a fresh fruit, I am inclined to say), and Hugo Race's very low, hoarse, and light one (like a cracker, I am inclined to say).

Perhaps if they were other names, maybe those who appear on MTV, the cool and hype ones, you know what I mean? It would have been a mega event on a big stage that everyone would have talked about for months... and yet, instead, I owe you just another splendid evening.