BRUNO BAVOTA & CHANTAL ACDA - Safer Places

The Acda-Bavota collaboration for “A Closer Distance” had been unexpected and surprising for the ease with which the two artistic visions blended harmoniously. “Safer Places” now confirms the synergy between the Belgian singer-songwriter and the Italian composer, opening up new paths and outside collaborations. Indeed, while the album is clearly related to its predecessor – from the title to the rarefied atmosphere, from the instrumental backbone of piano and acoustic guitar to the themes running through the lyrics – the use of an expanded palette of instruments, particularly electronic ones, allows the duo to push their songwriting forward without losing the magically moving touch that marked their first collection.

The drum beat wrapped in synthetic arpeggios would perhaps have been unthinkable on “A Closer Distance”, yet here it feels entirely natural, nestled between the excellent piano-and-spoken dynamic of “Hold On” and the more classic interplay of guitar, piano and voice on “A Part of Me”. On “Sandwich in My Hand” singing gives way to spoken word poetry, but the most interesting experiments lie in the multiplication of melodic lines as a lingering echo on “Don't Know What To Say” and in the sparse harmonic field of “Safer Places”. While in the former song the blurring of voices works to underline a sense of disorientation, the effect achieved on the title track is deeply evocative: electronic sighs drift in the background over frozen ground like little spirits scattered among winter mists, alternating with the silence of musical pauses to heighten the sacred dimension of a song built like a prayer.

“Take us to safer places” is, after all, a simple yet powerful wish for home, peace, humanity and respect – a plea that today rises from every corner of the globe and is repeatedly trampled and ignored in utter disregard for human rights, amid a scenario of raging violence. Yet the music of Bavota and Acda, just as on “A Closer Distance”, holds within its delicacy a potential therapeutic virtue that I hope can reach, like a protective hand, anyone who finds themselves voicing such a wish. It would clearly be naïve to believe this is truly possible; and yet “Safer Places” seems to me to rekindle the hope, perhaps utopian, that one day every form of oppression might be overcome. Sure, in the final song, “Bikes”, the bicycle wheel gets a puncture while flying at full speed in the wind, but there's still time to fix it, isn't there?

The tyre broke, I almost fell

My feet would hold, all we could tell

Beneath the ground, all spirits rest

Taking the peace, for all to last

All we know was clear and under our skin

We took our bikes rode it fast to the wind

Under the trees a soft breeze

There i lay, to surrender ourselves in these moments

Ride the wave of great music

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12/03/2026