MEZZALA - Tutte difese

Michele Bitossi is well remembered as the singer of Laghisecchi, between 1998 and 2001, during the tail end of the golden decade of the Italian indie scene, then as the voice of Numero6, extensively covered on these pages, as well as tackling the solo project Mezzala, effectively the launchpad for his solo career.

Setting aside the football jargon - but only partly, since "Tutte difese" is still a title that smacks of defensive, "catenaccio" Italy - Michele once again proves he belongs to that breed of songcraft artisans who prefer the half-light of reflection to the overexposure of contemporary pop. But be warned: this is a half-light that shouldn't be read as musically "understated", because "Tutte difese" also contains some genuinely lively moments, or arrangements that are anything but minimalist.

Bitossi returns to mapping the territories of everyday life, of the contemporary reality we all share, delivering a logbook built from exposed fragilities, in which - in the author's own words - he tells the story of what we tend to build between ourselves and pain, of when running away becomes an inevitable choice, when learning to say no becomes essential in order to protect ourselves, so that certain forms of submission don't end up lulling the best part of us to sleep.

Much of "Tutte difese" was written in collaboration with Kaballà, but there are also two songs co-written with Francesco Bianconi, "Un'infinita canzone d'amore" and "Baci di Giuda", a sublimation of the Baustelle-esque streak often present in the Piedmontese singer-songwriter's DNA (just listen to the opener "Sono non sono"...), plus "Pensieri", credited to Bitossi, Kaballà and Francesco Gabbani.

Michele holds a degree in Modern Literature and teaches Italian and History at a technical high school; he knows how to tackle the most delicate subjects, doing so every day in classrooms of teenagers who struggle to find the right focus to dig deeper. Perhaps that's where a song like "Partigiano" comes from, weaving together our history and our present.

With craftsman-like care, Michele brings out twelve new chapters that recount the small, great troubles of our time, the "defences" we build up against the world. We pause for a moment to look at the wreckage of the past, then try to piece together a hypothesis for the near future, free of nostalgia, seeking the light through the cracks, with a language and style that don't chase instant approval but are there to try to endure. An intimate record of auteur pop, for anyone who wants to listen by tuning out the background noise of our complicated everyday lives.

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25/03/2026