ENZO CARELLA - Ahoh Ye Nanà

Back once again, as ever on tiptoe, comes the white blackbird of Italian singer-songwriter music, the outsider responsible, towards the end of the Seventies, for the hermetic turn taken by that national totem who goes by the name of Lucio Battisti. Heralded by the single "Oggi non è domani", as electrifying as if the moment of his debut had returned, as though a scent or some arcane flavour had brought back lost time.

It's a strange feeling of surprise and wonder. Enzo says he's returned to singing because of the demand and interest his exemplary brand of pop continues to stir up, despite being saddled with a discography still trapped in "vinyl" form. This music, so desirable, remains both hostage and mirage, forever awaiting a digital reissue, paradoxically enough. Yet a diehard fanbase spanning three decades is still there, marvelling at "how" that voice, those words, can still appear as a "radiant mirage".

When the new alchemical bridge penned by the Carella/Panella duo kicks in, you think it's a miracle, or simply that you never moved from there, from back then, that time itself has come full circle. Enzo is as sardonic as ever, but today more than ever he's willing to work his way through with irony. Perhaps this is the main, the greatest driving force, the trigger behind such an unexpected artistic renewal. And so the semitones and apparent dormancy of his last album from the Nineties awaken into shoots of colourful guitar lines — the work of Carella himself and keyboardist/arranger Fabio Raponi — stretching Enzo's unfailing bittersweet melodies into a bouquet of flashes, views and visions full of irresistible counterpoint.

It's precisely his knack for crafting disarming songs out of a natural melodic gift that makes us raise an eyebrow (again). Today as in 1977, Enzo rattles off captivating tunes with such ease that he makes us all feel like songwriters in the making. That's because his arrangements are simple, never disguised by baroque flourishes that, incidentally, couldn't be reconciled with a whispered voice confined to a single, irresistible register.

His exploration of the world around him unfolds through forays into multiple genres, a command of style that clashes with the lack of any structured musical background, which Enzo, almost bashfully, admits to when asked about his musical tastes.

And so he roams almost unknowingly - and all the more flavorful for it - from the white funk à-la Steely Dan of "Basta il pane" to the pop-ballad of "Oggi non è domani", from the vintage disco of "Lavorare no" to the swaying soul of "La spina". Journeys that convey a sense of wonder at crossing boundaries, held together once again by the lyrics of a Panella who has never been so well balanced between exquisite wordplay and increasingly less hidden narratives.

Journeys of nostalgia where everything flows together, euphoria and disenchantment that "lasciano spine in noi": "Pierina", "Tramonto", "Estrella misteriosa", "La banalità".

Italian music has sorely missed him, and we've missed him a great deal too: welcome back, Enzo.

Ride the wave of great music

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31/07/2007