Giorgia Fumanti – Cinema Collection
If there’s one thing that can be said about 2023, no matter what business or portion of society you’re referring to, it’s that the standard rules in artistry just do not apply. Giorgia Fumanti must have been thinking about what this precisely meant when she was dreaming up concepts for her new album, and after doing some soul-searching, she came up with an exquisite new LP in Cinema Collection that deserves to be recognized for the unique offering it truly is. I’ve had a lifelong aversion to cover albums as a music critic, but with content as solid as this, I was forced to rethink my views recently.
Right off the bat, I noticed a major difference between the style of Fumanti’s music in this release compared to similar efforts that have been making it into the charts as of late. Almost every significant hook, from those in “Over the Rainbow” and “I Won’t Light a Candle” to “Take My Breath Away” and “Once Upon a Time in the West,” has been scaled back from what it would have been in this material’s original form, making for an interesting vocal contrast up top that even the most novice of critical ears will instantly tune into.
Giorgia Fumanti takes a very controlled approach to the tempos in this record, and while that might sound a little worrisome on paper (particularly if you liked the beat-heavy sound of her peers in the immediate underground), it translates a lot better in the case of songs like “Un Jour Tu Reviendras,” and “Where Dreams are Born,” my favorite track on the record. There was no reason to splurge on something so minute in these instances; frankly, I think the stripped technique works better for the arrangements as she’s reimagined them for 2023 and the audiences of today.
Though the structure of “I Won’t Light a Candle” and “Les Feuilles Mortes” is somewhat familiar to me as a hardcore music buff, there’s no denying that Giorgia Fumanti consistently puts her own spin on the compositional layout of every song’s most powerful climax. In the former, she is so careful in how she approaches the chorus that it almost feels like she’s going to retreat before she even gets there – in the end, however, it’s the audience that winds up rewarded for our bearing the tense moment with a rich harmony reaching into the heavens above.
I came into my review of Cinema Collection with some incredibly high hopes for what Fumanti was going to produce and record in this all-new LP, and I’m happy to report that I was more than pleased with everything I came across.
Cinema Collection might not be an original offering in the vein of a non-soundtrack tribute piece, but it feels like just the right kind of workout this singer needed to keep sharp in this dreadfully sluggish period we’re collectively sharing as fans of her local scene. I’d keep her on my radar as the rest of summer comes rolling into focus, as her camp is constantly toying with new and exciting material serious music fans can’t get enough of.
Check her out on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giorgiafumanti/?hl=en
