CANARIE - Tristi tropici

I can feel the optimism of our story starting to crack

literature as an antidote to boredom

the trust I feel watching you fall asleep

and I'm the one driving

Canarie are here to overturn the chilly mood of an unusual spring: a duo made up of Paola Mirabella (Honeybird & The Birdies) and Andrea Pulcini (Persian Pelican). A couple intent on bringing a summer breeze to our shores with a debut album released through Porto Records and distributed by Goodfellas. “Bolero” has a sonic fabric that draws you in right away: in no time at all it tells of the first cracks spreading through a couple's life, woven together with acoustic guitars, mellotron and a rhythm section that's more than up to the task. Worth noting straight away is Andrea Pulcini's songwriting, whose verses reflect small stories with the most precious kind of budding detail:

Amami con le tue mani fredde

Anche d’estate che mi rapiscono

Hold me

The world is a slaughterhouse full of oil

Hold me tight a little longer

Next comes the single “Mettimi il dito in bocca”: a rhythmic track with warmer shades, as shown by its killer chorus, delivered with real craft. Paola Mirabella's vocal accompaniment is in turn smooth, spreading nicely over an instrumental with a thoroughly Mediterranean sensibility, undoubtedly one of the album's standout moments. 

After passing through the carefree “Penisola” (featuring Andrea Suriani on synth), the title track “Tristi Tropici” arrives: once the anthropologist Lévi-Strauss's essay is left behind, the duo sets off on another expedition, this time in synth-pop guise, lit up from within — and straight in the face — by the light of Lucio Battisti's Latin period. Slower in pace is “Frigo”, a more reflective track that seems to melt in the sun thanks to its more relaxed character compared to what came before. A dreamy ballad that gains a powerful lift on the chorus and through the keyboards' explosion. Mirabella and Pulcini then move on to the other accomplished ballad titled “Sfocata”, which more or less keeps up the aforementioned mood — one that, in another life, could have suited Patty Pravo's voice.

“Mammiferi” breaks away from the album's more placid songs to sail toward the artistic shores of the Tame Impala project: a psych-rock surge that runs without pause. Among this debut's acknowledged highlights is “Veliero”: a deep dive that draws from the usual Battisti-esque waters. The feeling driving the track is undoubtedly among the dreamiest here (and Mirabella's vocal contribution proves especially effective).

Toward the end, “Stromboli” stands out, with all due respect to the delightful “Meduse” and “Lepri trasparenti” (both more laid-back in tone). The former has the merit of carrying the listener into another dimension, with a distorted opening blast that sets the track ablaze before it soon reveals itself as a waking dream. Mirabella's presence (more than just a backing vocalist), combined with Pulcini's remarkable songwriting, builds a precisely defined state of ecstasy that holds right through to the end.

Anyone unfamiliar with works of the calibre of “Sussidiario illustrato della giovinezza”, or with Moravia's literary output, can certainly draw from this source for years to come: a spring capable of quenching even the most troubled souls. Paola Mirabella and Andrea Pulcini (a refined pop pen) are responsible for this musical Eden called Canarie, a destination that promises an exceedingly comfortable stay, but which conceals a certain melancholy that only great romantic novels know how to tell.

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07/06/2019