Mina contains multitudes, also in the new album “Gassa d’amante”

Mina, absent and present at the same time: he speaks to his audience through music and records; away from the scene for decades, in events and with the media she is “represented” by Massimiliano Pani, producer, manager, record producer (and son). It is he, together with his team, who “grounds” and elaborates what his mother thinks and chooses on a musical level. For this new album Mina on the cover is the figurehead of a ship (the creation is by Mauro Balletti) and the title “Lover’s gas” refers to a knot used in the navy. The singer, as always, chose and selected the songs herself: 10 tracks, 9 unreleased plus a reinterpretation of a song by Fabio Concato,”I won’t stop waiting for you” (from the album “Tutto qua” of 2012; already in 1990, in the album “Ti I know mask”, Mina had sung “Zio Tom” by the Milanese singer-songwriter).

The choice of pieces

Mina brings together young unknown authors and other established names in the national songwriting scene; to this last category in the new album belong “Without hurting me” signed by Elisa and “Throw It Away” by Francesco Gabbani.

“The choice of pieces for the new work – explains Pani – is always very long and patient and follows an idea that is built in his head. She listens to all the unreleased material that is sent to her, around 4000 pieces a year, and many already published things that she finds online. For this album she then remembered Fabio Concato’s song and wanted to interpret it. Most of the things are by new authors.” There is also a song composed by Alberto Anelli which he already wrote for her, based on the text of Cristiano Malgioglio,”The important thing is to finish” (1975).

According to Massimiliano Pani this album enhances Mina’s skills as an interpreter. “There are many good singers, but the true performers are something else, they are those who add an emotional sense to the singing, they put more heart into it. By always choosing what she likes, she finds it easier to step into this role as a great interpreter. Sometimes he chooses things that are not predictable, perhaps a non-traditional piece that surprises, only apparently out of his league” says Massimiliano. “She is the one who manages to sew it on herself, to interpret it and make it her own. Her strength is in having the project in her head and then knowing how to transmit it to the musicians who accompany her in the studio. But we still make electroacoustic albums, we don’t chase trends and sounds : in the album, for example, there is no reggaeton”.

Mina’s absence-presence

If Mina is absent as an image (“she has been missing from TV since 1974 and from concerts since 1978”, recalls her son), her “myth” is very present and amazes Pani himself. “It is something to be studied on a sociological level, because in a historical phase in which the image counts it “arrives” even without appearing. It gets everywhere without being there and knows how to conquer even the young public, just as many of those who propose their pieces with the hope of being selected by Mrs. Mazzini are young.” So says her spokesperson son, who continues: “Many see in her a symbol of artistic freedom. She has had a career that continues even now even though she has left the mechanism of the system, and the public follows her and finds her interesting even in the new repertoire, which also ranges between styles and genres, because she is omnivorous, she only looks for music beautiful, regardless of whether it is jazz or bossa nova or melodic song or whatever.”
“The composers” – explains Pani – “must do something that belongs to themselves and not apparently belonging to Mina, then it is she who adapts that dress to herself. Sometimes in the songs sent to her she sees something that is just a spark, we, her team, develop her suggestion… and she is always right.”

From her observatory Mina looks at the world and at almost 85 years old she still manages to be amazed by what comes from music. “He listens to everything, every kind of music, in the same day he goes from Puccini to Prince, from jazz to young people. Lately she has been fascinated by the influences of the Latin world. Usually, in addition to the songs that come to her, she searches for non-mainstream things. They shoot us in the eyes and ears of what society and the market want us to see and hear, but in reality there are other alternatives. It’s a period in which you have to look for music, and now with technology it’s easy to do so, but there are many good guys.”
The relationship that Mina has with technology is good, but it reaches a limit: that of respect and artistic sense. “He finds certain applications of AI a bit sterile. AI has perfect architecture from a structural point of view but lacks genius. She knows how to do something “Bach-style” but she lacks the genius of Bach” says Massimiliano, interpreting the maternal thought.

Returning to the choice of authors, Pani confesses that they often ask great authors to give her a piece, they do it a lot with Fossati (the two together in 2019 created the album “Mina Fossati” with songs by the Ligurian singer-songwriter). “If they don’t send us anything it’s because they don’t have anything they feel they can present to you.”

“It’s incredible that an artist who makes these choices of courage, dignity and respect for music is still so present, even if she hasn’t shown herself in public for 40 years. This album is an example for young people, to say ‘You can do'”, concludes Pani.

Tracklist

I won’t stop waiting for you

Missing

To tell you I love you

Just love me

Without hurting me

The heart is wrong

That’s how it works

Throw it away

True love

I won’t leave you