Tiziano Ferro
Alla Mia Età

After months and months of development, acronyms, and hints about the features, here comes the new album from the artist from Latina, two years after the release of the last 'Nessuno è solo', now reaching his fourth album.

This 'Alla mia età' marks the definitive transition to EMI, and indeed the album -still produced by the excellent Canova, recently also alongside Jovanotti for 'Safari'- is Ferro's first not to be produced by the Maionchi-Salerno duo.
The album presents itself honestly right from the cover: the face of the now-no-longer-a-teenager Ferro in the foreground, in contrast with a photo of Tiziano as a child on the back. Among the thirteen tracks that make up the album (12 in Italian plus one also in English, perhaps for the international market), the duets immediately stand out: 'Indietro' was co-written with Ivano Fossati, a rare occurrence for Ferro who usually writes alone; its English version, 'Breathe gentle' is a true duet with Kelly Rowland, former Destiny's Child member; 'Il tempo stesso' is an intriguing feature with Battiato in full Sicilian singer-songwriter style.
The rest of the album continues the path taken with its predecessor: 'Alla mia età' is also an album made of sad ballads, often melancholic, focused on the consequences of other people's malice and envy, artfully arranged by the trusty Canova Iorfida with sharp and targeted lyrics and melodies at first impact. It is certainly an album now a thousand miles away from the 2001 R&B debut 'Rosso relativo', although in a couple of cases ('Indietro' and 'Per un po' sparirò') there's a return to international sounds. It's immediately noticeable that even in this effort almost all songs lend themselves to being singles: it's surprising indeed the choice of 'Alla mia età', the title track, as the first single, probably due to the launch period (late autumn).

Surely, this album lends itself to an audience no longer purely teen but aims to broaden the horizons of the twenty-eight-year-old singer's fan base, thanks also to the aforementioned collaborations and to an increasingly singer-songwriter turn in the music.

A challenge certainly difficult to face but successfully overcome and one that may win over many skeptics, as it did with me.