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Sanremo, Wednesday 19 , at nine thirty-five. Giuliano Palma has just finished singing " So far away " and " A kiss cruel." Armin Zöggeler bronze medal in Sochi in luge, appears on the stage of the Ariston to proclaim the song that goes to the next step . While Fabio Fazio and Luciana Littizzetto interviewing the luger , Palma is on the sidelines with his legs crossed , his right shoe pointed to the ground, the boom contested at ninety degrees , his head slightly bowed , his eyes hidden by sunglasses. If it is so , still : the promotional photo of himself. " Old boy" has the same effect : it is the record of a dandy who performs his best poses . Seduce with ease, but struggled to leave a lasting impression and deep.
The story is this . After twenty years of concerts and fifteen discs with Bluebeaters , Giuliano Palma gave us a cut : the end of the collaboration with the group , just ska , stop the formula now worn covers. To start focusing on himself. As a follow up to the 2002 solo album " Grand Prix " . To break free from the past, a bit ' as the protagonist of the film by Park Chan -Wook , " Old Boy ", which was held in captivity for twenty years without knowing why . In spite of the premises , the album does not change the musical philosophy of Palma. There are no bumps or turning points . The production curated by singer Fabio Merigo is unashamedly retro . Puts aside ska to embrace a form of R & B melodious coded so well with Mark Ronson and Amy Winehouse here filtered through the sensibility of an esthete mod Palma. And so the introduction of " A fault" gives a nod to Curtis Mayfield and " A kiss cruel " mimics some lovely songs of The Supremes . This also applies to " So far ," with text by Nina Zilli , eleventh in the final standings of the festival. " Now you know " is instead written by Samuel Subsonica : it was upbeat , Palm has changed into a rock -soul because "enough with this upbeat, now we want to beat."
The plant soul and rhythm & blues based horn stabs and supported by tasty keyboard parts leaves no room for changes in the script , right in strokes of color as the flavors westerns " 10 Steps " , the panache exoticizing of 'L ' summer will come , "the indolence of jazz " Perfect wrong . " The latter would not tune in Sanremo with its romantic air , and those " endless walls " winking at "Heaven in a room " by Gino Paoli . The only cover is " Always something there to remind me" of Bacharach -David , who was already Sandie Shaw and Dionne Warwick passes without leaving a mark. " Like yesterday ," with two short inserts rap Marracash , has the fragrance of certain things of the Style Council , the group Eighties another mod esthete , Paul Weller . The autobiographical underlying the title " Old Boy " , which indicates - as explained Palma - nature boy disheveled despite 48 years of age, is not declined in the texts, but the tension in the fun and disengagement. A tension that culminates in " A grand finale " that closes the album with a surge of pace and with the image of angels drunken dancing in the storm . Elsewhere unfortunately abound words of love ( the lyrics are mostly Christian and Andrea Bonomo Sormani Valli ) is not exactly original or daring : " Blame your eyes that millions have seen me," "Heaven and we , nothing more , let's stay together under this blue "," Feel that cold it is , but your skin knows, the summer will come. " From one with the pedigree of Palma think it's reasonable to expect something better, something more.
" Old boy " suggests that at one time were the most melodious songs , the singers most elegant , the feelings the easiest , and therefore you might as well face the music you like you did then. The problem is the lack of daring leaps . Okay, are songs . It's stuff made to be hummed , to dance , to entertain . And from this point of view, " Old boy" reach the goal . But it also serves as inspiration in pop unsettling , the passage you do not expect , the effect of surprise. And in here if they miss . With its ordinary love stories and his nostalgic impulses , " Old Boy " is likely to look like a disk unhistorical . Or maybe it fell perfectly into this weird time when you look back , because the future is gone and the present is unreadable.
