The unmistakable and timeless voice of Gianna Nannini

Today is the birthday of Gianna Nannini, the Sienese musician reaches the milestone of 70 years and does so in splendid shape. Of course, your chronological age matters, but up to a certain point compared to the age you feel: and Gianna undoubtedly has the spirit and determination of a little girl, despite the year written on her identity card. she. Gianna is a timeless musician and we wish her a happy birthday by republishing her review “You are in the soul”his latest album released last March.

Gianna Nannini's latest album, “La differentia”, is dated November 2019, four and a half years ago. Never had such a long interval of time elapsed between one of her albums and another in her entire career which, discographically, began with “Gianna Nannini” in 1976, almost half a century ago. The Sienese musician has allowed a good period of time to pass, but the return is generous and impressive. In fact, other projects have been directly linked to the album “Sei nell'anima”: a film with the same title on the first part of her story, more or less up to the age of thirty, to be released next May on Netflix; then a new updated edition of the autobiographical book “Cazzi mie” retitled for the occasion “You are in the soul (cazzi mie)”; and finally, a European tour announced for November.

“You are in the soul” is the title of one of the many classics in Gianna Nannini's repertoire. The song was written by Pacifico with the contribution of Nannini herself and was released in 2006, as the first single from the album “Thanks”. When the announcement came that this new album would be called “Sei nell'anima”, misunderstanding, it was thought that it was a collection of old songs, perhaps rearranged, perhaps filled with the addition of a couple of unreleased songs, perhaps with curiosity brought about by the participation of some guests. It is not so.

Twelve unreleased songs that confirm, despite an increasingly less green age, the central importance of Gianna Nannini in the variegated universe of Italian song. An album in which all her many souls can be found, as if it were a compendium of her entire work. The rock supported by a carpet of strings that responds to “1983” opens the setlist with the proverbial grit that distinguishes it.

The single “Silenzio” is the result of a winning collaboration with the aforementioned Pacifico.

In “I want you” Gianna sings about love with a voice and a conviction that leaves no doubt about it. “Lento far” lowers the tones to give greater relevance to the words of the song which is supported by a choir and cradled by the strings. A convincing love story that ends (without wanting to write the final word) is staged in the nocturnal “Hello is better than Goodbye”. Again with the help of Pacifico, “I'd rather go blind” was rewritten in Italian – which here becomes “The dark in my eyes (I'd rather go blind)” – a song performed by the great black singer Etta James in 1968. To close “Sei nell'anima” come the arpeggios of an almost gypsy guitar by the Spaniard Raül Refre which accompany it in the intense and desperate “I missed a song that talked about you”.

Gianna Nannini's purpose for “Sei nell'anima” was to create a soul album, an album that made its way into the soul. In this sense the initial intention was not betrayed. It's a soul record as Gianna understands the word soul. Put more simply, it is an album that does not lack the melody performed by the unmistakable and timeless voice of Gianna Nannini which will not disappoint the many fans of the Tuscan musician.