Jovanotti, a return between metaphysics, reggaeton and Dumas

A piece can contain rhythms reggaeton and at the same time convey a lack, a void? Just as if the heat of the asphalt and the cold of the sky embraced each other. In the midst of those musical textures, which fill and empty, there are intimate, personal words, from which a sense of reflection, adventure and discovery shines through. “Montecristo”, the single that marks Jovanotti’s return, with a production curated by Dardustis the first piece of a new road, which leads towards the album will be released on January 31st. The song sinks its hands into concreteness, the reggaeton it has always had an urban and city sound, but at the same time it is metaphysical. “Montecristo” is different from much of what we listen to today and in its gut “contrast” it generates beauty.

Between rhythm and depth

Jova amazes and offers one of his deepest and most introspective lyricswhich leads into uncharted territories: “A mermaid crossed my path to force me to look at things with new eyes”, he sings in the song. Words that bring the mind back to the bad bicycle accident I had last year. On the new single and the reference to the Dumas masterpieceexplained: “’Monte Cristo’ was born by chance, or by force, as happens with dreams. It is a song that contains a metaphysical atmosphere, probably born during my first convalescenceafter surgery a year and a half ago. At that time I was listening to the audiobook of ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’a novel that I read about fifteen years ago and that fascinated me. The audiobook, read by Andrea Giordana, kept me company for days. Dumas, who also wrote ‘The Three Musketeers’, is an immense storyteller, and I found myself identifying with the protagonist: a betrayed young man, who loses everything, love, his role in society, and finds himself alone in a cellwhere his journey of rebirth begins.”

Then he continued: “For me, writing is always an exercise, a way to process what I experience, and the text was born from that feeling of loss and revenge.. Then one day Dario Faini (Dardust, ed.) made me listen to a melody on the piano in his small studio in Milan. I tried to adapt the lyrics to his music, and I immediately realized that it worked. In a few minutes we brought the song to life, but as always happens, the finishing work took months”.

Dardust’s touch

“Montecristo” combines introspection and modernity. Jovanotti’s voice is at the center of a carpet made of strings and on an urban floor composed of electronic reggaeton, it creates an unsettling atmosphere, a vital and poignant restlessness which, however, leads to dancing. It is a piece that talks about rebirth, processing trauma, change and freedom. “The song unites two worlds: reggaeton, with its infectious rhythm, which it has now become the sound of the worldand a more classical, orchestral atmosphere. In the middle, there is me and my story – continued the artist – it is a song that evokes adventure, research and also lack, that emptiness that pushes us to move to find what we are looking for. A key phrase is: ‘Even when you are with me I miss you‘”. The structure of the song full of contrasts reflects a journey of transformation: a journey between obstacles, lost and constantly sought love, continuous self-discovery.

Just like a modern Count of Monte Cristo, Jovanotti faces his ghosts: “Become what you are, not what they want.” The production curated by Dardust, who also signs the music, enriches the single with orchestral arrangements on the one hand and on the other contemporary and futuristic sounds that bring the aesthetics of reggaeton into a new dimension. The two had already collaborated in “Nuova Era”: “Having Lorenzo in the studio is one of the best things that can happen. Positivity, enthusiasm, courage and exploration. After a long break as a producer, there couldn’t have been a better return for me than thiswith an intense, bold and out-of-championship song like ‘Montecristo’,” the producer underlined.

A dreamlike video

The single is accompanied by a cinematic and visionary video clip, directed by Antonio Usbergo and Niccolò Celaia for YouNuts, filmed at Lido di Staranzano in the early hours of the morning and which restores that “suspended time” that suggests the sound of the song. Jova plays a fictional character who lands on a mysterious island afterwards a shipwreck. “The protagonist of the video could be a castaway, perhaps the waiter at a party on a ship, or perhaps the captain, or even a simple sailor. He finds himself on a desolate island, where he encounters figures that could only exist in his mind: shadows, tribes of spirits, a mermaid – he concluded – we inserted elements that came to mind little by little, such as a fencing duel with a shadow, a horse, which is also my sign in the Chinese horoscope and an animal with which I identify, and even an ancient amulet with engraving Laurensius Juvenis Artifex, ‘the young Lorenzo artist’. It is an object that the protagonist finds on the island and which reminds him, for a moment, of having been an emperor in a past life.”