From Paul McCartney to Sal Da Vinci: the records of the week

From the rock energy of Ministri to the sharp writing of MadMan, passing through the timeless charm of Paul McCartney and the emerging sensitivity of Violet Grohl: this week will be a very rich and varied New Music Friday. A blender of releases in which we really find everything: alongside the records of the former Beatle, of the daughter of the Foo Fighters frontman, of the band that is the symbol of Italian alternative there is also room for the pop of Sal Da Vinci, the rock of Keanu Reeves’ Dogstar, for the cinematic atmospheres of Labrinth and for the hard rock power of Shinedown.

Paul McCartney – “The Boys of Dungeon Lane”

Five and a half years have passed since “McCartney III”, the last studio album by Paul McCartney, who returns to his audience with “The Boys of Dungeon Lane”, a record with an evocative and very personal title. Since then – it was December 2020 – the world has gone through the Covid pandemic, several wars and numerous upheavals in an order that we considered a shell. Paul has not lost his bearings in these five years and a half, continuing his career made up of a thousand facets, including live concerts, publication of books, photographic exhibitions, re-editions of the Wings period and “the last Beatles song”, “Now and Then”. “The Boys of Dungeon Lane” is not (only) an autobiographical record, much less a nostalgic one. Here is the review.

Ministers – “Shadow Songs”

The Ministers announce “Canzoni Ombra”, an EP which collects songs left out of previous albums but never forgotten by the band. The project was born from an experiment started in 2022, when some tracks were shared only via newsletters to fans, with the request not to spread them online: a promise fully respected by the community. After the “Aurora Popolare” tour, the group decided to recover that material, reworking it in the studio together with Ivan Antonio Rossi and adding two unreleased songs. The result is a work that brings to light songs that have remained on the margins of the official discography, but are still current and necessary.

Madman – “MM Vol. 5”

MadMan returns to his most beloved saga. The project arrives after days of live on Twitch in which the rapper listened to the previous mixtapes of the series together with his fans. During the live broadcasts, MadMan retraced the birth of the MM saga piece by piece, telling behind the scenes of the studio, relationships in the rap scene of those years and the creative climate that accompanied the first chapters of the project. With “MM Vol. 5”, the Apulian apper, at home in Milan, returns to the sound and approach that made the saga a point of reference for a generation of Italian rap listeners. The MM Series was never intended as a simple collection of mixtapes. For MadMan it represented a free space.

Violet Grohl – “Be Sweet To Me”

Violet Grohl, Dave’s eldest daughter, seems to have chosen the most difficult and most honest path: not to circumvent her surname, which, as we know, always generates unwanted comparisons for children of art. The direction is clear from the first listen: grunge, alternative rock and 80s-90s dream pop, openly inspired by Pixies, Soundgarden, Cocteau Twins, The Breeders, PJ Harvey, Alice in Chains, Björk, L7, Juliana Hatfield.

Sal Da Vinci – “Forever Yes”

Sal Da Vinci’s new album is called “Per semper Sì”, like the song that – against all odds – led the Neapolitan singer-songwriter to triumph at the Sanremo Festival, a stage from which he had been absent for seventeen years, and then represent Italy at the Eurovision Song Contest. At the center of the songs are themes such as love, family and lasting bonds, intertwining personal experiences and daily stories with his melodic and popular style. Among the authors appear Gigi D’Alessio, Da Vinci’s son Francesco, Federica Abbate. And there is also a duet with Serena Brancale, on “Dimmelo”.

Dogstar – “All in now”

“All in now” is the fourth studio album by the alternative rock band led by Bret Domrose, Robert Mailhouse and above all by Keanu Reeves on bass. The project arrives after their 2023 recording comeback with “Somewhere Between the Power Lines and Palm Trees”, which marked the group’s reunion after over twenty years of hiatus. Produced by Nick Launay, already working with IDLES and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, All In Now promises a more energetic and direct sound, suspended between 90s alternative rock and post-grunge atmospheres. The singles already released — “All In Now,” “Joy” and “This Sphere” — show a more compact and mature approach, built on the understanding between the three musicians and on essential but powerful riffs. The album will contain 12 tracks and will be accompanied by a long international tour between the United States and Europe.

Labrinth – “Cosmic opera: Act II”

In January Labrinth, one of the most brilliant and visionary musicians of his generation, published “Cosmic opera: Act I”, an ambitious work, which merged electronics, symphonic orchestrations, gospel and alternative R&B in an emotional and almost theatrical tale. Now the second volume of the project is out: “Cosmic opera: Act II” will complete the concept started with the first album. Labrinth described the album as a journey into mental chaos, the pressure of success and the need for personal healing. There is also a lot of media attention around the album for the break with “Euphoria”: many fans online consider “Cosmic Opera” the symbol of his artistic rebirth outside the universe of the HBO series.

Shinedown – “Ei8ht”

As the title suggests, “Ei8ht” is the eighth chapter of the band led by Brent Smith, but also one of the most ambitious projects of their career. The album will contain 18 tracks and has been described by the group as their most personal, cinematic and cohesive work ever made. Produced by bassist Eric Bass, “Ei8th” promises to expand Shinedown’s classic hard rock sound with more emotional and dynamic atmospheres. Brent Smith said that the album was born during a very difficult personal period, also marked by the loss of his mother, an element that would influence the emotional tone of many songs.