In 1907, American doctor Duncan MacDougall tried to capture the moment when the soul leaves the body. His conclusion – twenty-one grams – the scientific community met approximately the same way as an acquaintance who after the second glass talks about astrology. The experiment failed, the methodology cracked at the seams, but the legend took root. Agree, there is something magical in this number. I learned, twenty-one grams this is the weight of a hummingbird, three pieces of sugar, a USB flash drive from the 2000s. Absurdly little for that which supposedly determines your entire essence. Giuseppe Cucè, a Sicilian from Catania with a biography, takes this metaphor and makes from it a conceptual album “21 grammi“. And you know what? To the theme Giuseppe approached with all seriousness. In the tracks he musically described what it’s like – to carry in yourself something weightless, which sometimes becomes a heavy burden.
Before I begin the story about the release, let’s get acquainted with its author! Giuseppe Cucè – a man-orchestra: from youth he rushed between music, writing, painting and dances, but music won! Over his career he managed to befriend and work with such a quantity of cool musicians that I’m afraid I won’t fit into the frames of the article (but believe me, the list impresses!). Important turn: in 2008 began his fruitful collaboration with the label TRP Music (Riccardo Samperi), then came out the album “La mela e il serpente”. Both the first and “21 grammi” came out under the wing of the French label Edina Music (thanks to Yvon Chateigner!). And the tour in support of “La mela e il serpente” catapulted him straight onto the largest stages of Paris: Le Trianon, L’Alhambra, Le Petit Saint Martin. Impressive, right?
And now, when you know what creative background stands behind the name Giuseppe Cucè, let’s move on to the most delicious: we take apart into pieces the new album “21 grammi”! In 9 songs of the conceptual album he investigates the border between body and spirit, memory and desire. And opens the recording a track which immediately sets the mood – “È tutto così vero”. This is a pure clot of Italian charm, mixed on an explosive cocktail from rhythms: here you have merengue, and guajira, and rumba, and even danzón! I’ll note immediately, the track makes you fall in love with it, so you want to shout: “Life beats with a key, go and dance, until you haven’t forgotten about everything!”
Further “Ventuno” – avoids obvious pathos. Don’t wait for orchestral intensifications or vocal pirouettes. Instead of this – a repeating guitar motif, percussion soft, and doesn’t beat out the rhythm, and the voice of Giuseppe, which as if lists inventory: what do you take with yourself when you go? Memory of the first kiss. Smell of the sea in August. Fear before darkness. Enumeration without dramatism – and from this even more aching. In the vocal of Cuche there is something from Toto Cutugno and Umberto Tozzi: that same slightly hoarse, warm timbre, having lived hundreds of stories. “Dimmi cosa vuoi” shifts in the direction of sensuality, tender and touching. The track opens a slow synthesizer, it creates the base, and then into this musical mixture pour in parts of guitar, rhythmic drums and piano. Pay attention to the vocal: it here is very personal. Cuche addresses to someone with the question “What do you want?”, but deliberately doesn’t fill the pause with an answer. Elegant, not-fully-said final – the author leaves this intrigue to us. Meanwhile “Fragile equilibrio” investigates the idea of temporariness through relationships, the singer plays with Italian melodics, and in my view he does this great.
Track “La mia dea” – a sentimental hello from childhood. Here the tone sets the cello: its long, stretching notes draw pictures of the past, filling the space between phrases. And also here there is a cool trick: the song begins calmly, accelerates toward the middle, and then again returns into a melancholic state. “Cuore d’inverno” – winter heart – the most slow thing. Cinematographic ballad in Italian spirit. It stands out with luxurious, orchestral sounding. In “Tutto quello che vuoi” the singer fulfills all desires of the beloved woman. Musically the song, in my view, is executed in the classical manner of the San Remo festival. On a quiet note, which is deceptively similar to reconciliation, begins “Una notte infinita”. But if you listen closely into the text (and here Cuche, it seems, deliberately stretches words), it becomes clear: the infinite night – this is not a metaphor of peace. This is a suspended state, when morning may not come, but all the same you wait for it. The final track “Di estate non si muore” (“In summer they don’t die”) – generally doesn’t look like its neighbors on the album. Giuseppe here suddenly shows claws, giving out a daring performance. The title refers to an Italian proverb (and to statistics – in summer they truly die less often). But musically this is much more interesting: looped samples, light electronics. And it turned out a cool, slightly “disassembled” effect of dissociation. We finish the album on a high and unusual note!
My personal result after listening to “21 grammi” from Giuseppe Cucè: delight and nostalgia! As a lover of Italian music, I very much liked this musical walk – the songs immediately called up in memory that same trembling expectation of broadcasts from the legendary San Remo. Possibly, twenty-one grams – is a myth. But the questions which Giuseppe raises in the new release weigh much more.
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