Bruce Dickinson, Liam and Squire, Piotta: albums of the week

From Bruce Dickinson’s new solo album – the Iron Maiden frontman hadn’t released a record of his own for nineteen years – to “The Names of the Devil” by Kid Yugi, who seeks consecration after the collaboration with Tedua on “Artificial Paradise”, passing through the joint album by Liam Gallagher and John Squire, the return of Mr. Rain and that of the Capitoline rap icon Piotta. Here are the albums coming out on Friday 1st March.

Bruce Dickinson – “The mandrake project”

It is the Iron Maiden frontman’s first solo album in nearly twenty years. Bruce Dickinson dedicated the last ten years of his career to the album, working on the songs included in the ideal successor to “Tyranny of souls” in his spare time between the band’s various commitments: “We started working on ‘The Mandrake Project’ in 2014, when he didn’t have that title yet. He’s had time to grow and mature and, God he has! I think you’ll be very elated and I hope you love everything we’ve created for you,” he said. The record saw Dickinson working alongside longtime musical collaborator and producer Roy Z: “‘The Mandrake Project’ is a dark, adult story of power, abuse and a struggle for identity, set against the backdrop of scientific and occult genius.” . It’s already scary like this.

Liam Gallagher & John Squire – “Liam Gallagher & John Squire”

Not only the single “Just another rainbow”, which literally drove British rock fans crazy: the collaboration between the former Oasis Liam Gallagher and the Stone Roses guitarist John Squire, all made in Manchester, led to the genesis of a joint album. Simply titled “Liam Gallagher & John Squire”, the album also contains the new single “Mars to Liverpool”. The anticipation is sky-high.

Kid Yugi – “The Names of the Devil”

A real surprise of rap in recent years, Kid Yugi announces the release of his second studio album, “The Names of the Devil”. In the album, inspired by the work “The Master and Margarita” by Mikhail Bulgakov, Kid Yugi talks about how Evil manifests itself in our society, upsetting it, in bizarre and extravagant forms. “I wanted to represent how Evil affects human beings, both at the individual and collective level, in various forms and measures,” explains the rapper from Taranto. Then, he adds: “Each track will have a title that refers to the different faces of Evil”. As in the previous recording project, “The Globe” (2022), certified gold, this new album will also have no shortage of cultured references linked to cinematographic and literary culture.

Kaiser Chiefs – “Kaiser Chiefs’ easy eighth album”

Led by Ricky Wilson with Simon Rix on bass, Andrew “Whitey” White on guitar, Nick “Peanut” Baines on keyboards and drummer Vijay Mistry, after almost two decades of career and over 8 million albums sold, Kaiser Chiefs return with a new work of unreleased songs, entitled “Kaiser Chiefs’ Easy Eighth Album”, to be released on March 1, 2024 and is, as the title specifies, their eighth album of unreleased songs. Produced by Amir Amor (Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, Charli XCX), “The Easy Eighth” sees the Leeds band experiment with a current sound. There are ten songs in the tracklist that are different from each other, ranging from Nile Rodgers’ co-writing of the new single “Feeling Alright” to the frenetic “Beautiful Girl”, up to the return of the horns in “Job Center Shuffle” and the energy of the previous single “Jealousy”.

Piotta – “‘Na infamous night”

Tommaso Zanello returns and does so with what is perhaps his most intimate and reflective album. “‘Na notte infame” is inspired by the recent and premature death of his older brother Fabio. With him, an appreciated writer and essayist, he wrote many of the lyrics, and his brother’s voice and verses open the first track. “’Na notte infame” is an emotional journey into that labyrinth of feelings that is the relationship between brothers. Through the personal and generational vicissitudes of Tommaso and Fabio, Piotta’s voice recounts the times that marked their generations. From the years of lead to Italy being world champion, from the boom of the 90s to the fall of the Berlin Wall, from the countercultures of the 70s to the birth of Italian hip-hop. Piotta’s rap becomes more introspective and aware than ever, on the album as well as live. An unprecedented journey in terms of sounds and training, so that after the album, Tommaso’s first novel entitled “Corso Trieste”, co-written with his brother Fabio, will be released in all bookshops for La Nave di Teseo, just like the album , which is the soundtrack.

Mr. Rain – “Miller’s Planet”

Mr. Rain’s new album, the fifth of his career, is a project inspired by the film “Interstellar” and the concept of time, capable of traveling at a different speed. The album is made up of twelve songs that have their roots, on a musical level, in the whole world of Mr. Rain, it wants to be “an introspective and sincere journey”, said the artist who at the last edition of the Sanremo Festival presented the song “Due swings”.