Our report cards of the new singles for the week of May 10th are back by Dario Costa.
Truly remarkable week when it comes to new releases this Friday. Obviously, the trend accompanying the beautiful season still prevails which, we hope, will soon arrive in its full fullness. In the meantime, the sounds that are found in this period are always those that refer to clubbing, but not only: as we will see below, there are some even distant proposals that were extremely interesting!
I would like to specify that the grades of the report cards do not put the artists in competition with each other but evaluate the song proposed by them as a mere recording product.
By moving forward in the article we get to discover the Golden song of the week, or the listen that you absolutely cannot miss!
Click continue below for the first part of the new singles report cards for May 10th.
NEW SINGLES REPORT CARD 10 MAY 2024
gIANMARIA – Desperate summer
An irreverent single with pop-punk echoes, a littleOval Spiral” and a little' “London Calling”, this one by the artist from Vicenza. He tells us a mix of images and adventures spent in eventful and youthful summers, among uncertain streets and the multicolored hair of girls he met by chance. Unfortunately, the song fails to escape the mold of summer clichés, despite the writing being interesting in some ways. There remains great lightheartedness and a fun mood, but unfortunately not much depth of narration.
Rating 5
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Arisa – Kiss me stupid
With an explicit quote from “Ba ba kiss me little one”, Arisa combines irony and a sense of inadequacy in a song that refers to Surf music. The narrative is that of an interesting evening in which the artist finds himself at a summer party with a retro context where a chance encounter could be transformed into something more.
In the wake of songs like “One thousand” And “The sweet life“, summer hits of recent years, the combination “summer + 50s sounds” could not be missing this year too and we are certain that in addition to this song by Arisa at least one more will come out (maybe, at this point, a hat-trick of Fedez?). Overall, the song is not surprising for the proposal put forward, although it will certainly fit very well into the radio schedule.
Rating 5.5
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Ghali – PAPRIKA
Of the new song by Ghali The rhythmic composition is immediately striking and manages to evoke the renowned reggaeton but without emulating it, creating an (obviously) more Middle Eastern and extremely interesting atmosphere. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the text which this time does not impress with the depth of the concepts and the depth of the writing, preferring a more cliché narrative of “red eyes” and “arguments with the girl”.
Here is the tease, which has already become famous thanks to a spoiler on Instagram, at RAI relating to the censorship suffered by the artist himself shortly thereafter Sanremo, as well as a mention of the now “topos” in his writing regarding the felt belonging with the country of Italy. Overall, a well-produced and pleasant song which however this time risks remaining on the surface.
Rating 6
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España Circo Este & Modena City Ramblers – Goodbye Fear
The sound proposed by them is unmistakable España Circo Este in this song with the historic band Modena City Ramblers, between a slowly rising guitar and distant trumpets. A ballad with typical echoes coming from other lands, dear to both bands in question, but which speak to the whole world. “Goodbye fear” is a folk hymn to freedom and peace, to finding ourselves in the care of ourselves and others, to stop harming ourselves.
Although the re-proposal of sounds so distant from current market taste is commendable, the song however risks remaining caged within a slightly dated listening desire. I think that an attempt at contamination with new approaches to production (as happened with other artists, for example i Three Happy Dead Boys) probably could have given a more sonically interesting boost to the song.
Rating 6
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Bugo – ARTICHOKES
With a flanger drum riff and a guitar riff that accompanies it like a “marcetta”, Bugo has chosen the song “Artichokes” taken from the album “Luckily I'm here” (both titles are graphically represented in all capital letters, to reiterate the exuberant character of the artist). Just like the taste of water drunk after eating a plate of artichokes, the taste that remains in the mouth after listening to this song by the historic singer-songwriter from Rho is precisely the sweetness.
This is a song in perfect style Bugo, with the scratchy and rock'n'roll sound, but it is in the lyrics that all his poetics can be recognized. In this case, the song talks about a marriage that continues, even after years, with those small daily gestures and small understandings that are actually so big and important.
In a simple and direct way, Bugo renews the love of the groom who still “says yes” to his beloved, despite dinner with his mother-in-law on Tuesday. Disarming in the grandeur of his declared love, one can bask in imagining that the singer-songwriter could really have written it with his wife Elisabetta in mind, with whom he has been married since 2011 and has two children. Although their life together is very private, we can enjoy the beauty of their love through this song.
Rating 7
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Elasi – White Tiger
Fresco is the name of the producer of this new single by Elasi, but it is also certainly the first adjective that comes to mind when listening to him and enjoying the excellent sounds he has chosen, including a '90s-style keyboard, a light guitar and a four-quarter drum. The result of the mix is a nocturnal and Mediterranean song, from club on the beach.
As in a sort of parallel universe in which i Nu Genea they do a cover of “Freed from desire”, Elasi he gives us images “spied through the lock” of an intense, sexy and above all free evening of his. About her She will make us dance and want to be there with her, with a cool drink in hand, enjoying the magic of that night.
Rating 7
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Fabrizio Moro – Cursed summer
Guitar and trumpets describing a moment of reflection in an end-of-season assessment. The summer that is about to begin does not seem to hold thoughts of new discoveries or possibilities in this passage of Fabrizio Moro which focuses rather on what has passed, on the thought that perhaps the passing of time – certainly inevitable – might not always reserve the depths and intensities of a story that has just ended.
“Where do lived things go?”, asks the Roman singer-songwriter in this melancholy and desolate song. Therefore, in contrast with the proactive push for the new season, the proposed song will certainly be important for those who instead need to take refuge in words of nostalgia. This is also needed.
Rating 7
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Click continue below to discover the highest votes in New Music Friday with the new singles report cards May 10, 2024.
Last – ELSEWHERE
The beloved Roman singer-songwriter gives us, seven days before the release of his highly anticipated new album, the title track “SOMEWHERE ELSE”, as well as the first song on the tracklist. The single is perfect for such an important launch, totally consistent with the artist's path and which certainly aims to be sacralized, also considering the ten dates in stadiums (eight of which are already sold out).
The sounds are now getting closer and closer to those of the singer-songwriters who made the history of Italian music, Ligabue first of all for this song which has very clear references to the period of “How's it going outside?” of the first two thousand. The chorus has convincing, simple and effective melodies, the lyrics are wide-ranging and interpretive in order to reach the widest possible audience (also in a personal sense). Without a doubt, it will be yet another success.
Rating 7.5
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Don Joe – Istinto Animale (feat. Guè, Annalisa, Ernia)
The Producer-legend of Club Dogo, Don Joelaunches a single that takes up a “classic shit” motif from old skool hip-hop, sampling the iconic “Apache” de The Sugarhill Gangalso taken from the very famous and anthological song of the same name by Jerry Lordan.
Definable as the hottest rap/urban proposal of the week, this new release by Don Joe bears the signature in the texts of Gué (also a member of Club Dogo), Of Hernia (very popular Milanese rapper both in mainstream and more niche environments) and by Annalisawhich has a truly effective refrain that is destined to be remembered.
“Animal instinct” is a song that manages to combine quality Italian rap with the sounds of the hip-hop tradition created with memorable trumpets and rhythms, without giving up a truly well-made and incisive pop moment (the chorus). In short, a truly successful and masterfully packaged product. Chapeau.
Rating 8
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Serena Brancale – The Aunt
The pairing Brancale – Dropkick_m (to the production) returns to attack the social (and non-social) charts with a new catchphrase after the very effective “Salted cod”: with “The Aunt” the rhythm remains obsessive, tantric and sensual, with wonderful percussions and sounds that recall the Mediterranean even beyond Europe. The text – as always fully understandable only to the natives of his own land – remains mysterious, extremely ironic and super interesting from a sonic point of view.
The main melody is very reminiscent of “Naughty girl” Of Beyoncé and it's no coincidence: the amazing voice and the great recognizability of Serena Brancale he is not at all afraid of envy of the overseas celeb. In fact, the study and preparation of the multi-instrumentalist from Bari are not a mystery to those who have studied the artist in depth beyond his successful character on social media.
His is a truly very interesting path, which by intelligently exploiting the tools available – the technological ones and those of his musical knowledge – manages to deposit songs of incredible interest by mixing the raw materials like a skilled alchemist, always keeping an eye towards the future. In fact, one already wonders: what will be the next astute move of our already iconic national star? We'll see some really good ones.
Rating 8.5
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Michele Bravi – Italian humor feat. Gué
“Imagine being inside a comedy…”, this is the incipit of the excellent song by Michele Bravi which asks the listener an exercise in abstraction and imagination, to visualize frames that are easily recognizable for those who have studied a bit of Italian cinema. “Grotesque and popular” are the laughter that can be heard in the refrain, as if to remind us that often, too often, we have laughed and underestimated some elements that have become part of our cultural heritage, without realizing that they themselves communicated controversial and questionable in our country.
This is what the great directors and art masters of Italian pop culture have always wanted to convey and which is taken up in this song to make it a melancholy and comical parody. Some of these Masters – including Milo Manara, Bellocchio and Gassman – are cited by the rapper Guè who gives the song the right edge, pungent and harsh, to summarize the bitter concepts that Michele Well done wanted to communicate with this proposal which, overall, is certainly the most interesting of the week.
Rating 9
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The New Music Friday article: report cards for the songs of May 10, 2024… Michele Bravi and Serena Brancale hit the mark. International breath for Ultimo comes from All Music Italia.
Daniel D`Amico for SANREMO.FM