In the dense Italian musical panorama, Cosmo represents almost a unique.
The very high dose of courage, which he has always instilled in his records and which he has always shown off in public expressions, has gradually built the classic figure of the divisive, uncomfortable character, but who has never been afraid to put his own ideas on the table and the theories that have built his entire path. A story, his, which projected him towards important artistic and obviously economic successes, which many would have easily ridden, without thinking even for a second about getting involved, as, at his own risk and peril, he continues to do in every occasion.
Also for “On the wings of the white horse”, Marco Jacopo Bianchi from Ivrea decided to bare himself, shuffling the cards again after the sociopolitical turmoil of the previous “The third summer of love” in 2021.
What emerges from the grooves of the latest work is a more sentimental, introverted, more pop and even more psychedelic Cosmo than what has been enjoyed in the past.
The forty-two-year-old singer-songwriter from Ivrea, graduate, professor, husband and father of three children, has never been sparing in providing, within his works, personal, intimate essences of his own reality, but in this profound journey, spread over eleven tracks , the desire to leave the stage to private emotions shines through unequivocally, trying to show, without particular hesitation, who the man is even before the artist and in this the title assigned to the album is rather emblematic.
The white horse has always symbolized dignity, purity, freedom, the representation of wanting to elevate man to the world of ideas, towards unexplored boundaries that often clash with everyday reality: all factors that Marco has incorporated in his own way in the construction of this narrow narrative.
His visceral passion for electronic sounds remains inextricably the cornerstone of the itinerary, but this time, and much more than in the past, the desire to dry out the multiple superstructures that have characterized him since the beginning, to obtain a more basic product is evident. , paradoxically minimal, which can powerfully highlight the strong internal thoughts expressed.
I’ve never liked the term singer-songwriter much, but it’s the only one capable of synthetically describing some facets of this album, especially if we consider the artist’s pyrotechnic aesthetic past: it’s as if a Battisti or a Dalla (professed uncomfortable while dutifully maintaining appropriate distances) decided to dress their songs with trance and EDM fabrics.
L’opener “Come un angelo” is one of the clearest emblems of what was illustrated above: a minimal piano, which between the indulgence of the text and the techno pulsations of the rear, creates a sensation as alienating as it is seductive.
The dub textures of “Gira che ti gira”, the tribal percussions of “Talponia” (a colloquial term that identifies a residential building located in Ivrea, a former portion of the sumptuous Olivetti complex) and the synthetic tropicalisms of “E se”, show a Cosmo very recognisable, but, as mentioned previously, deliberately stripped of most of the beloved frills inserted one on top of the other, as a great enthusiast and lover of every type of sound generated by various instruments and devices.
The great work accomplished together with Alessio Natalizia aka Not Waving was predetermined to achieve this goal.
The single “Too strong” is a reference to the more canonical Cosmo. A strong, acidic, syncopated song, concluded by a surprising ending that is at times new age.
The more confidential phases contrast between the gracefulness of “The Embrace” and the continuous breakdown of “Tutto un casino”, an episode that recalls the suburban break-beat of the Prodigy and which does nothing to hide a difficult personal moment.
Antagonisms of sound and content that are amplified in “Ho un’idea”, with electronics that alternate between dilated sequences and sharp insertions.
In “Moments” we think about whether it is right to want to go back to experiencing the most emotional and passionate phases of the past or to let the conscience prevail which makes them fly away, in memory, but without the desire for revenge.
The LP ends with two of the best passages in the setlist. There title track it is the litmus test that represents the total turning point perpetrated by Cosmo, the key warning that on a stylistic and thought level has materialized in all these songs. The curtain falls on “The message”, a lysergic journey, probably truly experienced, expanded in unison between anxious atmospheres and the vehement cry of returning to one’s loved ones, after a journey that had reached the boundaries of the imagination. “On the wings of the white horse” marks the umpteenth turn of the Piedmontese singer-songwriter and musician and, in all likelihood following the logic deduced from the activities offered so far, it will not even be the last.
The desire to bet with new dynamics and renewed schemes, almost always closely related to personal situations, indicates how in him there is no boundary between the man and the artist. Everything comes from instinct, then evidently channeled in an organic way, but always following one’s own nature, with very few connections towards the trends of the moment.
Cosmo is a naive professional: an oxymoron for many, an absolute concordance for himself.
03/28/2024
