ANDREA CHIMENTI - Tempesta di fiori

Andrea Chimenti is one of those Italian artists regarded as untouchable. Alongside names such as Giorgio Canali, Marco Parente and Paolo Benvegnù, he belongs to the narrow circle of alternative musicians who have rarely put a foot wrong and have always kept a deep underlying consistency across every project they've taken on.

Chimenti returns with a new album five years on from the previous "Vietato morire", and does so with twelve finely crafted tracks that skilfully alternate moments of introspection with elegant, incisive uptempo numbers.

Long gone are the days when Moda were one of the leading bands of the new Italian rock scene, sharing the stage with Litfiba, CCCP and Diaframma. Today Chimenti (who was Moda's undisputed leader) favours good songwriting, preferring (at least on record) to whisper rather than set things ablaze, which doesn't mean he's any less capable of sparking ecstatic revolutions in our hearts.

We prefer him, in any case, when he raises the stakes a little, and we find in "Vorrei incontrarti" the perfect song of the bunch, a cover of an old 1972 Alan Sorrenti track. On "Il cielo che si avvicina" we should note a duet with the excellent Valentina Cidda of Kiddycar.

A few yawns are inevitable on the (sleep)ier tracks, which keeps the album from earning even half a point more in the rating. But the late surges of "Era di notte" and "Qualcosa cambierà" earn dear Andrea a more-than-deserved passing grade, helped too by an excellent vocal performance that confirms him once again as Italy's answer to David Sylvian.

Far better than any recent Fiumani, nearly on a par with Benvegnù at his best.

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07/07/2010