Rome — a city where all roads converge. For centuries, this phrase has been more than a saying: it’s a principle etched into the very layout of the ancient road network, where thousands of kilometers of stone highways radiated outward from a single point. Rome has always been a place where paths begin — and where they cross. In 1978, one of those paths started for Valerio Montelatici, born in the heart of the Eternal City. At fifteen, he picked up a guitar, and what began as teenage energy quickly took shape: together with friends, he formed Hang Loose — a band whose name spoke for itself. For years, they played, toured, and burned through stages — until 2006, when the roads finally diverged.
Then-silence. Long, slightly drawn out-fourteen years. But Rome knows how to wait, and Montelatici learned this patience from the city. In 2020, he returned-with the debut solo album “My Inspiration”. And in April 2026, after searches, scraps of demo recordings, and adult reflection, he presents his second solo album “Are we happy”. Just two words-and both fall like a stone. A question of the kind you ask yourself when all roads are already passed and you stand there, where they led. And you wait for an answer. Nine tracks. Nine steps along the route that Montelatici paved for twenty years. Let’s go.
The title track “Are we happy” – the first point of the route – sets the tone: a question without a question mark in the voice. Bold guitars persistently pave the way in tandem with sharp vocals and drums that storm neck and neck. A track with the classic energy of indie rock, its guitar ringing serves as a framework for existential search. Valerio’s confident vocal places punctuation marks in everyday life. But as soon as you decide that this will be a walk in the spirit of a “happy melancholic,” “Dangerous” enters the game. The rhythm becomes denser, the guitars – harsher. A song about decisions that can destroy everything. And in this transition from contemplation to conflict, the album begins to breathe wider, indie rock shows its teeth. The first impulse of anxiety, sharpness, and tension.
The anxious note smoothly flows into “Disturbed nights”. If the previous track was action, this one is the aftertaste of insomnia. Music for moments when thoughts are louder than everything around. The sound picture expands, air and space appear, in which Montelatici is especially convincing. Night anxiety creeps up and does not let go: guitar echo, blurred rhythms, restrained vocal – everything draws into a musical spiral. The final solo is a taut nerve, it breaks off at the moment when dawn is already close, but has not yet come. The mood change happens sharply, like a switch click. “Get out of my way” – an energetic sharp blow to all obstacles. The guitar sounds bold, in a teenage way, reminding of Valerio’s roots in garage rock. A flash of irritation and an attempt to break out of the closed circle. And when the boiling point reaches maximum, comes the straightforward, like a shot, “I Hate you all”. But do not rush to accuse the author of misanthropy: behind the prickly title hides rather an ironic liberation from others’ expectations than real malice. A therapeutic “ugh,” expressed with impeccable sense of rhythm.
Having vented the steam, the album freezes at the point of contemplation. “In front of your eyes” returns to reflexivity. The author plays with self-irony. Behind the aggressive title hides fatigue from social roles and masks. Montelatici sounds like a person who is tired of being convenient. Closer to the finale, the author allows himself a bit of caustic humor in “Kings of the nonsense”. The track is an echo of today’s time, where absurdity is elevated to a cult, and we all are dissatisfied subjects of this kingdom. To the rhythm of the track, one wants to dance, jump, and understandingly nod. Then comes the moment of magical realism- “Stop the time”. In the song, Valerio wants to press pause, to fix the slipping moment of the last twenty years. Viscous guitars physically slow down the space around the listener. The touching rock ballad especially pleased me. And here, “The end”. Finale. Logical completion of the path, leaving behind confidence and the experience accumulated during the journey. Guitar fingerpicking – like a sliding landscape behind an open window, a ribbon of highway ahead.
All roads led to Rome. Montelatici walked them all – and returned with a bright album.
“Are we happy” -the work of a mature artist who knows how to handle vocals as masterfully as an overloaded guitar. Valerio Montelatici created a mirror into which it is sometimes scary to look and from which it is impossible to look away. So, are we happy? Maybe. At least while this music plays, the search for an answer seems damn engaging.
Voxwave Magazine: Music, Culture, Interview, Fashion 