Bon Jovi and Pelù's (impossible) assault on Geolier

“Il courage dei bambini”, the album that consecrated him as one of the brightest stars of new Italian rap, is still in the top 30 of the weekly Fimi/Gfk chart of the best-selling and most listened to albums in Italy: it has been there for 73 weeks and from January 6, 2023 – the day of its release – to date it has achieved a total of 6 Platinum discs equal to 300 thousand copies sold.

“I p' te tu p' me” from Sanremo has never stopped its run, exceeding 80 million streams on Spotify and achieving 3 Platinum Records. In Naples the fever is already rising for the three shows that on 21, 22 and 23 June will see him perform on the stage of his hometown stadium, the Diego Armando Maradona where a total of around 200 thousand spectators are expected. Results which evidently still don't make .Geolier satisfied: the Neapolitan rapper is preparing to return with a new album, “Dio lo sa”, to further consolidate his success. It is against him that this week Bon Jovi and Piero Pelù will attempt an assault as impossible as it is unlikely, with their respective new works. And among the most anticipated releases are also those of Aurora, Peggy Gou and Charli XCX. Here are the albums to listen to this week:

Geolier – “God knows”

Promise kept. Geolier had said that the new album would arrive before the big party, three times sold out, at the Maradona Stadium: he will go on stage on 21, 22, 23 June. “Dio lo sa”, his third album, will be released on June 7. The project arrives two years after “Il courage dei bambini”, a six-time platinum certified album and the best-selling album of 2023, and after his participation in the Sanremo Festival which saw him win the covers evening and come second in the final ranking with his “I p'te tu p'me”. Thus continues the unstoppable run of Emanuele Palumbo who, at just 24 years old, has established himself among the strongest names on the national rap scene. The announcement of the album comes after the publication of the single “El Pibe de Oro”, an exercise in style produced by Poison Beatz and “L'ultima Politica”, a Platinum certified song, which sees him duet with Ultimo.

Piero Pelù – “Deserts”

After over a year of forced stop, Piero Pelù returns to music and does so by announcing the release of his new album, “Deserti”, and his return to the stage after the cancellation of last year's tour due to problems related to tinnitus. The first track entitled “Novichok” has been published, a song that Pelù decided to share with his fans in a very important place for him, the cellar in via De' Bardi in Florence where Litfiba were born and took their first steps . “Deserti” represents the second chapter of the “Trilogy of discomfort”, a musical project that began in 2020 with the publication of “Pugili fragili”. The new album explores profound and current themes, such as loneliness, alienation and disillusionment.

Aurora – “What happened to the heart”?

The queen of Nordic pop songwriting of recent years returns with a new album, two years after the previous “The gods we can touch”. Norwegian Aurora wrote and produced the songs contained in “What happened to the heart?” between Norway, Germany, the United Kingdom and the USA, working with hitmakers such as Magnus Skylstad, Matias Tellez (among the protagonists of the Bergen Wave, the Norwegian new wave, already alongside Girl in Red) and Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers. The album is a concept: “In a world corrupted by money, power and selfishness, what happened to the heart?”, will be the question at the center of the album's sixteen tracks.

Bon Jovi – “Forever”

Jon Bon Jovi, the group's frontman, described it as a “record that marks a return to the joy of writing, through the recording process: that's turning up the volume and feeling good.” “Forever” is the sixteenth album of the rock band's long career with 130 million albums sold worldwide, a catalog full of hit anthems and thousands of concerts performed in more than 50 countries. The album sees the band, among the most iconic in the history of rock, return to the scene four years after their last work and contains twelve unreleased songs: among these also the single “Legendary”.

Peggy Gou – “I Hear You”

The artist, producer and DJ Peggy Gou is about to release one of the most anticipated debut albums of recent years: “I hear you” will be released via XL Recordings. The ten-track album is the result of years of work for the Korean, a one-of-a-kind underground and global icon, who has always followed her vision uncompromisingly to become one of the most requests from the world. Featuring previous singles, global hit “(It Goes Like) Nanana” and Lenny Kravitz collaboration “I Believe in Love Again”, the project sees Gou move to the next level of his craft and boldly assert his voice through the lens kaleidoscopic of 90s house music. Speaking about the record, Peggy Gou said: “'I Hear You' is more than just a debut album. It embodies countless hours of dedication on my journey to create something timeless, and is a testament to the power of knowing how to listen to ourselves and the others”.

Charli XCX – “Brat”

With “Brat”, his sixth album, the English pop star celebrates a special birthday: it was 2014, ten years ago, when his name associated with a song ended up at the top of the charts. Until then Charli XCX had lived behind the scenes, writing hits for others, such as “I love it” by Icona Pop. Then “Boom clap” made her voice known to the whole world. “Brat”, preceded by the singles “Von dutch” and “360”, sees Charli XCX return to her roots, to the London underground clubs where the singer-songwriter began to take her first steps as a teenager.