Niccolò Fabi in a world of feelings that do not blossom into love

He had thirty-two years to go Niccolò Fabi on April 21, 2000 when he released his third album, “Serene to the west”. Of the album's title she said: “Serenity is on the horizon, on the sunset horizon, in the West, which is where I feel I belong.” Let's go back 24 years and reread our review of “Sereno ad Ovest”.

The range of possibilities is rather limited. O Fabi wanted to tell us: “We talk a lot about me”, and armed with a pickaxe he dug as much as he could into his own cave. Or, Fabi wanted to tell us: “This is me, this is you”, to make us discover that the young Italian male between twenty and thirty-six (let's put a number there, come on) faced with the most disparate situations, digs, digs, he will always end up getting lost in the same labyrinths. Third, last, inevitable: both hypotheses are good, and this also explains a title like “Clear in the west”, which is already a clever expression of a “nice” and unspoken discomfort (what's the weather like in the east and south?).

If the thought is weak, the music needs to be subjected to restorative treatment – but the feeling is that it is deliberately and eloquently sparse, with poorer melodies and arrangements than the previous album.

The melancholy of “Lasciarsi un giorno a Roma”, already quite contained, sweet resignation in the face of the apparently inevitable escape of everything (time, passions, the tram, everything) is further diluted in bland and blunt musical ideas of every angle at which you can cut yourself. Only “Zerosei”, which is a bit reminiscent of the Cure, causes a few small shocks, but throughout the album we remain seated, staring into space, guided by Niccolò into a world of feelings that do not blossom in love for the fear of dissolving into tears, into strong emotional reactions.

“Politics”? Secondary to the titanic effort to govern one's love life (eh, we didn't expect anything else). At the end of the album we wonder if Fabi, who shares some painful and charismatic detachment with the “Prince”, is really the De Gregori of his generation. Without hermeticisms, and without dazzling memories of girls in Rome “whose face resembles the collapse of a dam”. In part, yes: Fabi gives the impression of digging in his mine without bothering to find jewels, convinced that there is no place for them in the Silicon Age. But of course, at the end of “If I were Marco” one feels like saying: “If I were Niccolò I would give myself a good shake. And I would remove the mirrors from the house.”

It should be noted that if by 31 July 2000 you connect to a site indicated on a “netcard” contained in the CD and follow the instructions, thanks to a partnership (or whatever they say) you can download an unreleased song, “Ostinatamente” for free. We're sorry to giggle at the sponsor, who we all know is God, but we really missed this gimmick of the song expiring like mayonnaise.