Tiziano Ferro
L'amore è una cosa semplice

Ugh! Trying to redeem Tiziano Ferro on DeBaser. Why do I even bother? Before I get inevitably swamped with criticism, I’ll quickly try to endear myself to the numerous detractors by saying that “L'amore è una cosa semplice” is not Tiziano's best album. It even has a rather unattractive title. It’s not very cohesive, there are some weak tracks ("Smeraldo", "Ma so proteggerti\"). The lyrics are not always exceptional.

And yet. And yet the fifth album of the singer-songwriter from Latina deserves praise for the ambition contained in the tracklist: that attempt to bind high and easy pop while still speaking to teenagers and subtly suggesting a bit of noble-American soul mixed with more accessible elements.

Believe me: listening to a forum full of teenagers in Assago singing from start to finish a powerful track like "hai delle isole negli occhi" is quite impressive. It's because we're dealing here with very unusual territory for the typical young listener. We’re talking about modern soul à la Maxwell with a touch of Baduizm. Not just any old thing. Sure, he proposed songs like this in his earlier albums (I remember "il bimbo dentro") but now Tiziano has figured out how to shake off the compositional clichés of the typical-Italian-song-with-soul-aspects. Put English lyrics to "isole" and have D'Angelo (not Nino) sing it, and then tell me. Obviously, between a jazzy piece ("quiero vivir con vos") and a bossa nova ("TVM"), the Italo-ballads dominate this album: "Troppo buono", "La fine", and especially the heart-wrenching "L'ultima notte al mondo", confirming TZN's precious ability to create captivating melodies.

Finally, he, even if his music may not be to everyone's taste, is an adorable guy and in his songs, I sense a lot of "truth", although he doesn’t deal with grand themes. Here it is: sorry if sometimes I settle for the truth.

Now: let the slaughter begin!