If you’re a fan of compelling vocals that can ascend toward the heavens like there’s no tomorrow, there’s not much chance you’ve gone your whole adult life without turning up a classic work like “Over the Rainbow” at least a couple of times, but when Giorgia Fumanti stepped up to the microphone to record her version of the song for the new album Cinema Collection, she wasn’t about to utilize someone else’s formula for the composition. On the contrary, this boldly talented vocalist skews the melody with a potent gush of harmonies that anyone could get lost in, and by the time the song is over it feels like we haven’t listened to a cover at all, but instead a very original track from Fumanti herself.
ABOUT THE ARTIST: https://www.giorgiafumanti.com/
Though the overall aesthetics of this record are a lot more classical in tone than they could have been in this specific instance, there’s no room for debating whether or not this player is sounding just as soulful in her performances here as she would have been in a looser setting. “Moon River,” “Les Feuilles Mortes” and “Now We Are Free” could have made for a near-perfect EP all on their own, but when coupled with the likes of an atmospheric “Stranger in Paradise” and the aforementioned “Over the Rainbow,” they start to feel like a declaration of war on the mainstream mundane. Fumanti is never shy about dismissing the contemporary fluff a lot of major labels issue nowadays, and in this situation, she’s letting the tone of her delivery speak for itself.
One of the best things this LP has going for it is its pacing; as we move from “Un Jour Tu Reviendras” to “I Won’t Light a Candle,” there’s a seamlessness that makes the record sound and feel like a classical compilation somebody made for you than a commercially-generated document (always a plus in my book). The high vocal in “Stranger in Paradise” cuts through the beat like a hot knife through silky butter, but even at its most abrasive, an instrumental component never becomes strong enough to drown out the other elements in the mix. It takes a careful hand to make this record as stacked and surreal as it is, but for Fumanti, this kind of content has become par for the course.
https://open.spotify.com/album/6ENYsQEYEyWa7DUY6DtMYn
If you were anticipating another hit in the wake of all that buzz similar efforts racked up last year, you’re going to be happy to hear every second of the music Cinema Collection has to fill your speakers with this summer. Cinema Collection is a knockout from the moment we get started to the second its aching grooves in “Now We Are Free” disappear into the fade, and even though I’ve always been reticent to endorse a cover album for several credible critical reasons if there was ever a good example of what one should sound like, it’s this LP. From any angle, I think this is a record that gives us insight into its creator’s personality and, more importantly, the depth of the songcraft she can make her own even when it seems rather difficult to the average player.
Gwen Waggoner
