Giorgia’s pop heart always beats strong
In 2018, exactly on November 16th, Georgie he competed with an album of covers, “Pop heart”. This is how he talked about it when presenting the album: “The idea of the cover album had been circulating for a while, my record company had been asking me for it for years, knowing that I come from there and that even today in concerts I allow myself to quote pieces that are not mine, I agreed to do it now because I feel that my latest album of unreleased songs, ‘Oronero’, has closed a cycle that began with ‘Behind appearances’ and that this was the right time to put myself aside.” The following is our review of “Pop heart”.
Giorgia explained the reason for this cover album in our interview: “Oronero” closed a cycle that began in 2011 with “Dietro le apparenze”, the electropop turning point album, then continued with “Senza fear” in 2013 and finished with the 2016 album. Her record company had been proposing her to record a cover album for years, knowing her history (the Roman singer began to take her first steps on stages precisely by singing songs originally written and performed by other singers) and knowing that often, in her concerts, Giorgia offers her versions of pop music classics. “It’s the right time to put myself aside and find out what comes out of it”, the singer finally said to herself, accepting the idea of releasing a covers album (the first of her career). It is called “Pop heart” and contains Giorgia’s versions of a handful of evergreens of Italian and international pop music.
Together with her producer Michele Canova, Giorgia wanted to rearrange the songs, dressing them in sound clothes that were sometimes completely different from the original versions. The common thread that links the fifteen covers contained in “Pop heart” is represented by the taste for electronics that has characterized Giorgia’s records for a few years now, including drum machines, synthesizers and programming. In “Oronero” just five musicians played: those who participated in the recordings of “Pop heart” were only two, Alex Alessandroni Jr. (keyboards, synthesizers and rhythmic programming) and Tim Pierce (acoustic and electric guitars), to whom added the backing vocalist Chiara Vergati (who joins Giorgia in the backing vocals of “She will come”).
If you consider songs like “Le Pockets Filled with Stones” by Jovanotti, “Una Storia Importante” by Eros Ramazzotti, “Gli hurdles of the heart” by Elisa and Ligabue, “L’ultimo baci” by Carmen Consoli, “She will come” by Mango and “Vivere una favola” by Vasco Rossi of the untouchable pieces, these new versions might make you turn up your nose a little. The risk that Giorgia and Canova run is that of perhaps daring too much and going off track: “We wanted to give the new versions a sonic contribution that was inspired by the original but which at the same time had something contemporary”, explains the singer, putting your hands forward. However, the covers of “I feel love” by Donna Summer (produced by Benny Benassi, who took Giorgia into techno territories) and the duet with the 27-year-old Roman Ainé – promising Italian R&B – on “Stay” seem more successful. by Rihanna (which isn’t that different from the original).
The album is the first volume of a diptych that the voice of “Come saprei” will complete (perhaps) next year, with “Pop heart vol. 2” (from the tracklist of this first cover album there are songs left out which for a reason or on the other hand it failed to make an impact). If you can’t wait to listen to Giorgia’s new songs, be patient: the singer has hinted that she is already working on new things (and next year, among other things, she will also celebrate her first twenty-five years of career, those that have passed since the release of his first album).
