In the USA they call it second album syndrome, although more than a syndrome it's a sort of curse (oh well). It's basically that theory that says the second record is harder than the first, both to make and because you have the anxiety that things might not go as planned. We ask Tananai how he's experiencing it, it seems very good: «I only think about this stuff because of Caparezza's song». He says this as he welcomes us into his studio in Milan to let us listen to something.
However, the moment has come for him too: he comes out on Friday CalmoCobraalbum number two. Before starting with the chatter, let's go to the kitchen, where the Smeg fridge has been transformed into a Sweg. Then we pass in front of a bookshop. Above there are some awards won in recent months, those from the radio, and then a certification that we had never seen: “the sega record”. It's like the circular blade of a saw, in fact, a bit blunt: “My carpenter made it for me, it's the most important certification of all.” In those days he was obsessed with Billie Eilish's song meowed by a kitten which went viral on social media (we don't blame him, it's truly hypnotic): «I would like to do it at concerts».
An encyclopedia of memes, a funny man who knows he is, and perhaps what he has achieved in these two years would not have been possible without a good dose of irony. Starting from that last place in Sanremo transformed into triumph. But from Twitter's funny guy, Tananai has managed to evolve into a homegrown pop prince. With pieces like Tangobut also finding a stylistic signature in the lyrics, in the melodies, in the things he tells to people like him who, he tells us, are “those who arrive later but then arrive”.
CalmoCobra comes out after a necessary break period: «After the last date of the tour I published a video in which I said that maybe it was time to stop for a moment. Seeing it again I realized how tired I was. Then, oh, it's not like I work in the mine”, he immediately corrects, almost as an automatic defense against taking himself too seriously. «But the people who listen to you deserve things that make sense, sincere. I became popular after Sanremo, and from that moment I spent two years on fire, and what's more it changed my life, people stopped me on the street. I had to understand who I had become, because I had never had time to dedicate myself to my family, my loved ones, my friends. So I said enough for a while, to also realize that what I had was beautiful.”
Let it not be said that if you are passionate about singing kittens you can't also think like adults: «To continue writing true, inspired things, I said to myself: “let's re-establish priorities”. From there the need to calm down arose, and we arrive at the title of the album. CalmoCobra that's what my manager told me, to calm down when he saw that I wasn't 100% me anymore. I had an attitude of ostentatious confidence, I had gotten used to people constantly asking about me. I was lucky to have people around who brought me back to earth.”
Tananai. Photo: Federico Earth
CalmoCobra it's a decidedly pop record, full of melodies that you can sing in the car: «I want to make pop, I like the simplicity with which you can talk about everyday things but also the thousand questions that one asks oneself. You definitely don't learn about life by listening to this album, first because I can't explain it, second because it's not my intent to explain anything to anyone. I understood what I wanted to say: telling my experiences, the importance I give to certain nuances of love. I think I've matured, yes.”
The album opens with Mud. “After TangoI liked starting from this title. I wrote it when I realized that everything was over, when I had decided to isolate myself, the mud had returned. Did it make sense to keep trying to race on this bike that doesn't make you realize what's around you?”. Moto, on the ground, also appeared in Milan and Rome to announce the album.
Speaking of pop, in Punk Love History quotes Tiziano Ferro and sings a piece of I can't explain it. But in CalmoCobra Radiohead is also mentioned, to whom a piece is dedicated which is called like Thom Yorke's band «I always listened to them as a kid». A journey into the memory of a young adult, aware of no longer being a pop promise but of having earned a place in the championship. Okgiorgio (“he's great, a bro”), Michelangelo, Simonetta worked on the album. And he, who perhaps not everyone knows, was born as a producer. However, there is no one in the list of feats (except Annalisa, with whom he published Short stories a few months ago): «I made some songs that made sense to me like this, and therefore I didn't take away verses that I had written to give them to someone. It makes no sense to me to look for a feat just for the sake of it. Short stories it was a piece that I had structured more or less like this but things were missing, plots, a part was missing. We met with Annalisa and ended it. For the rest they are all songs born like this, in their entirety. Then you know how hard it is to get all the guests to come to concerts? Organizing is a mess… one comes to Bologna, the other to Rome. I don't feel like organizing.” Mature, yes, but without exaggerating.
CalmoCobra cover and tour dates:
Saturday 2 November 2024 – JESOLO (VE) – Palazzo del Turismo (zero date)
Monday 4 November 2024 – MILAN – Unipol Forum
Tuesday 5 November 2024 – MILAN – Unipol Forum
Friday 8 November 2024 – FLORENCE – Nelson Mandela Forum
Saturday 9 November 2024 – PADUA – Kioene Arena
Tuesday 12 November 2024 – BARI – Palaflorio
Friday 15 November 2024 – EBOLI (SA) – Palasele
Wednesday 20 November 2024 – ROME – Palazzo dello Sport
Saturday 23 November 2024 – LIVORNO – Modigliani Forum
Wednesday 27 November 2024 – BOLOGNA – Unipol Arena
Friday 29 November 2024 – PESARO – Vitrifrigo Arena
Tuesday 3 December 2024 – TURIN – Inalpi Arena
