Diodato burns as if he were on stage
Two months after his participation in the Sanremo Festival 2024where he ranked thirteenth with his “You move”, Diodate releases a new album entitled “I lit a fire”, available from April 19th.
Unlike what other colleagues have done, his is not a collection of new songs that include the Sanremo track nor the already seen compilation of past hits. For the singer-songwriter it was a “hybrid” choice, i.e. repertoire songs (plus the song from the last Festival) resonate live in the studio.
Also to present “I lit a fire” Antonio Diodato has chosen a different path. In fact, he performed unexpectedly on the afternoon of April 19th at the Milan Triennial with a performance that began at 3.30 pm and ended around 8.00 pm, divided into different moments during which the singer-songwriter performed on guitar, with Rodrigo D'Erasmo on the violin, Andrea Bianchi from Castelbianco on guitar and Lorenzo di Blasi with a mini pianola, among the installations on display at the Triennale in front of the surprised visiting public. The last performance was full band at the entrance to the Milan Triennale. These were performances of great intensity, completely acoustic, without amplified instruments (apart from the final one) and with Diodato singing just a few centimeters from those present.
In a break between the performance sets we met Diodato for a brief exchange of ideas on the new album.
Why and how did this album arrive?
It's a record that comes from a very long journey that I've undertaken for a few years now. I must say that it is a journey in which I had a good time, accompanied by incredible musicians and through hundreds of concerts around the world.
In every concert we collected something, whether it was vibrations from the places, which the places gave back to us and which we also adapted to in every concert or the relationship with the audience who came to put something of their own into these songs. So these songs transformed so much that I was sad to let them go like this and I thought this could be a good time to record them, to photograph them in some way.
But is this live in the studio?
It's a live in the studio, played exactly the old way: one, two, three, four, all together. I would say it's beautiful because there's a completely different air and also having to, for example in my case, sing and play the guitar together also puts you in front of the unpredictable, having to accept nuances that perhaps today in the production of records they are almost no longer accepted. And so it was a strong experience for me and that doesn't mean that this experience won't influence future things in some way.
There are a lot of horns in the arrangements.
I have never been a huge fan of horns on records, at least until a few years ago. Then I had the opportunity to listen to some that had thrilled me from that point of view and also to meet musicians who had a certain type of attitude and therefore I completely changed my mind, now I can't help it. They give a warmth to the sound which, in my opinion, is something I was looking for for some time, such an important heat that it then allowed me to light a fire.
How did you choose the songs?
I chose them without thinking at all about the most famous ones, nor about those that perhaps had been neglected the most. I chose them thinking of those that in some way had such an intensity in the live performance that they deserved a sort of second dress. Let's put it this way. And they are certainly the songs that have transformed the most concert after concert.
What was left out that you wish was there instead?
Many things. However, this is not to say that this is the last chapter of this adventure.
What will happen now?
Now we're going towards this theater tour, there's a summer in between where I still don't know what will happen; I'm going with the flow now, so something special might happen. We are thinking about it and we are listening to the things around us. And then in the autumn there will be a theater tour which is a great challenge for me because I have had the opportunity to play in theatres, but for the first time I am doing a real tour. And I would like to do something very particular, not just a simple concert. I've been saying this for some time now, but now the time has come to get our hands on this material and shape it to create something beautiful that can be shared with an audience.
Could what you hear on the record have a theatrical transposition, that is, is it already prepared in some way for a theatrical context?
Yes, what's on the album could easily be part of the theater lineup too. But knowing me, I think I'll get my hands on it again, so it should be something very different.
Do you have new material?
It's a period in which I'm also writing, above all I'm filling this baggage a bit. And then the moment will come when I will stop and close myself somewhere and probably new songs will be born.
Calendar Tour Dates In Theaters 2024
September 28, 2024 Grosseto – Modern Theater (Zero date)
01 October 2024 Bari – Petruzzelli Theater // Sold Out
02 October 2024 Lecce – Politeama Greco Theatre
05 October 2024 Mestre (Ve) – Toniolo Theater // Sold Out
06 October 2024 Milan – Arcimboldi Theatre
09 October 2024 Rome – Auditorium Parco Della Musica
October 11, 2024 Naples – Augusteo Theatre
October 18, 2024 Civitanova Marche (Mc) – Rossini Theatre
October 19, 2024 Pescara – Teatro Massimo
October 20, 2024 Assisi – Lyrick Theatre
October 23, 2024 Palermo – Golden Theater
October 24, 2024 Catania – Metropolitan Theater
October 26, 2024 Makes (Cs) – Garden Theatre
October 29, 2024 Florence – Verdi Theatre
October 30, 2024 Bologna – Europauditorium
October 31, 2024 Schio (Vi) – Astra Theatre
November 14, 2024 Turin – Colosseum Theatre
November 16, 2024 Mantua – Social Theatre
November 17, 2024 Trent – Santa Chiara Auditorium
November 25, 2024 Genoa – Politeama Genovese Theatre
November 27, 2024 Parma – Teatro Regio