![Recensione: GINEVRA – “Femina” [Traccia per traccia]](https://www.wecb.fm/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Review-GINEVRA-Femina-Track-by-track.webp-768x768.webp)
I think that songs should not be listened to superficially, but should be investigated.
Every note, every word, every pause demands to be explored, revealed. Only in this way is it possible to truly penetrate the intimate essence of what the artist wanted to communicate.
Some songs just touch you, others enter you and leave immediately, while still others plant themselves in your heart, leaving an indelible mark.
“Femina”, Ginevra's new sound project, is one of those that remains. An album that, through its eight tracks, not only tells the story of the female universe but forces you to stop and reflect, immersing yourself in a deep emotional flow.
Ginevra, with her style, tells her experience, but above all that of all women.
This time I listened to the voices of women: articles, books, podcasts, albums, exhibitions, films, demonstrations, laughter, tears… Stories of authors, journalists, musicians, friends, sisters, my grandmother's voice for the last time and maybe for the first time mine too. And the more I listened, the more I fell in love with our voices, and the more I fell in love, the angrier I became at the daily attempts to silence and tear us down. All this was the driving force that led me to write the new album.
Each song is a narrative, a small fragment that clings and leaves its mark. Love, with all its facets, is the fulcrum of every story. But it is a love that is not limited to its romantic dimension; it is a love that speaks of rebellion, of passion, of internal struggle.
Musically, “Femina” is a sound mosaic full of nuances and references. Ginevra moves gracefully between suspended and dreamlike atmospheres, reminiscent of Portishead (Femina), or the pop-rock freshness of the Cardigans (what do I want, what do you want). The sound also embraces the electronica of the XX and the delicacy of folk, with clear references to icons such as Joni Mitchell and Fiona Apple.
An amalgam of influences which, although distant, find a perfect synthesis under his voice, intimate and vulnerable, but incredibly strong.
The production is signed by lifelong friends: Francesco Fugazza (Fugazza), Marco Fugazza (Suorcristona) and Domenico Fizio who collaborated with an all-female team who built the entire refined and penetrating aesthetic project.
Ginevra is ready… Listen to her, you won't regret it!
TRACK BY TRACK
1. “my baby!”
“my baby!” is the new song from GINEVRA and marks the beginning of a new era. It's a sort of rock serenade with direct lyrics, distorted vocals and lots of guitars. The need is to reach the listener with maximum power and clarity. The clear voice of the singer-songwriter and the usually ethereal and electronic sounds here leave room for a dirtier and more organic scenario that recalls the world of Pixies and Blur. This song was born for fun one night in 2021, during the making of Ginevra's previous album “DIAMANTI”. It was written in a castle in Tuscany but it's as if it were played in a garage. “my baby!” it also marks the beginning of the collaboration between Fugazza and Suorcristona – the brothers Francesco and Marco Fugazza – and the musician Domenico Fartigianato who jointly produced this piece.
2. “river girl”
“river girl” is a hymn to simplicity and respect for one's identity. The river girl protagonist of this story, and in part of Ginevra's entire new album, is the one who follows her own instinct, her own nature, and who traces her own path alone. Toil after effort, despite adversity, she does not adapt to the pack but always chooses herself and the banks of the river as her home. In fact, it is precisely on the river that Ginevra feels at home and it is the river that continually calls her back to itself. Turin, his hometown, thus reappears, through this song (in his previous work DIAMANTI; there was precisely the track entitled “TORINO”). It was a very tormented song, both in the writing and production phases, but strongly desired by Ginevra for its deep emotional connection. It was among other things the first embryo of the material that now makes up his new album. To finish writing it, Ginevra turned to the Turin singer-songwriter Alberto Bianco. This is how two river boys met for the first time and finished writing this song, with the main themes for the story of his new project.
3. “cupid”
“cupido” is the second single from GINEVRA's new work. It's a song about growth and evolution and how bittersweet everyday life is. It is a song with apparently light tones but which hides a thread of melancholy. The opening scenario is a car journey, the sunset can be seen from the mirror and the journey is nothing more than time passing. In the background the 30 years of the singer-songwriter who tries to describe that feeling of feeling perpetually stuck at the same point in history, like a traffic light that doesn't change color, while the people around you seem to have taken the right path and move forward perfectly. The main sound element is the guitar, the strumming of the acoustic but also the electric which sneaks in on the words in an unexpected way giving character to the production. Voice and words intersect, at times becoming dirty themselves with distortion, and becoming cruder and darker by choosing phrases like “no one else like you who pierces my heart”. “cupido” was born within a few hours thanks to the lucky meeting in the studio between Ginevra and Iulian Dmitrenco. The production was then developed and completed by the “my baby!” trio, Fugazza – Suorcristona – Domenico Fartigianato. The result is once again a choral work, by many hands, with a pop language but with the sound of a band, inspired by projects such as Radiohead.
4. “FEMALE”
“FEMINA” is the manifesto of Ginevra's new album. It is a song of denunciation, a cry against gender violence, a dramatically current theme told in this angry and elegant ballad whose sounds recall the world of trip hop and Portishead in particular. The text is raw, ruthless, it advances without turns
words, and the fact that it is mostly sung in a whisper makes it even more cutting. Until recently, given the complexity of the topic, Ginevra would never have thought she would be able to talk about it in these terms, but driven by yet another piece of news of feminicide and discrimination, she immediately wrote the key song of her new album, by in which the female world is the protagonist. He wrote it for himself, for the people in his life, and for anyone who feels subjugated by the influence of patriarchy in their daily lives. The title is the only one on the entire album to appear in capital letters so that the force it emanates immediately draws the listener's attention. It is inspired by a book of the same name, by Janina Ramirez, read by the singer-songwriter during the writing phase of the album; a book that tells the story of the Middle Ages through female protagonists who have been erased from history because they were women. Their names were in fact crossed out and an f was written in their place: the f for Femina. These nameless women have actually made history and have contributed to building and shaping the world we live in as much as the men who have gone down in history. “FEMINA” is dedicated to all the women who have been erased, and to those who fight every day so that violence against the female gender ceases to exist, freeing the new generations. In fact, the hope is that at least they can live in a more equal society than the one we live in today.
5. “what do I want what do you want”
When you spend a lot of time with another person, you may lose sight of your own needs, you may not fully understand what you want, even in small daily decisions, and you may wonder what you are without the other. “what do I want what do you want” is about those moments when thoughts like these run through your head. Love is a beautiful game made of complex rules, unique moments alternate with moments in which you feel in a precarious balance, a bit like in this song intimacy and explosiveness, fragility and strength, tenderness and anger alternate. The human being evolves, changes, and so does the couple if they manage to adapt and keep up with the changes. In this song, which is a sort of diary entry, Ginevra tells her story on a carpet of distorted guitars, in an unfiltered stream of consciousness in which folk mixes with rock.
“30 years”
Among the central themes of GINEVRA's new album are his 30 years, the undisputed protagonists of this song. The age of 30 represents a delicate period, at times dreamy, at times complex, and in which one must juggle confusion, social pressures and expectations. The song has an intimate and melancholic tone, it opens with an acoustic guitar with a rough tone and a lilting rhythm, and explodes in the chorus with the arrival of acoustic drums and choirs. It is clear right from the start – with that “Since you left” – that here the artist expresses himself deliberately in the feminine; in fact he writes addressing his grandmother Anna, who passed away in the days of the composition of this song. The final part of the song, which for the singer-songwriter is the most evocative, is a sort of descent into oblivion, where confusion, perfectly rendered by the amount of reverb, reigns supreme. In this dimension she agrees to live her 30s alternating days in which she feels euphoric and others in which she feels totally lost and without direction. There is a comparison between her 30 years and those of her grandmother who, unlike her, she imagines as self-confident and confident, as she saw her in the photos. The sound and compositional framework is inspired by artists that Ginevra infinitely respects, among which the names of Joni Mitchell, Feist, Mazzy Star and Big Thief stand out. The writing also sees the participation of Martino Consigli aka Irbis.
7. “truth” with Colombre
Knowing and accepting yourself in all your essence is the central theme of “truth”. With the phrase “Have you brought what you are to leave? Like the truth..” Ginevra means “bring yourself, be yourself and it will be fine”. It is a song that talks about relationships, truces and conflicts, and how difficult it is to find a compromise to accept each other without getting lost behind differences and misunderstandings. This minimal song, with a folk and singer-songwriter character, was written by GINEVRA in collaboration with the singer-songwriter Colombre, who further embellished the song with his voice. In fact, Colombre appears when you least expect it, helping to convey the message of this essential and powerful song.
8. “the source”
Reaching the source, awareness, is an uphill journey, made up of great challenges. It's a bit like reaching the top with your feet immersed in the mud or staring a viper in the eye to destroy your ego. Surviving these challenges, and therefore reaching the source, means being free again. This journey requires great willpower and GINEVRA's strength is all contained in this particularly significant song which is partly inspired by the story of “La prophecy of the Curandera”, a book given to her by a fan at the end of a concert, and which is part of the fundamental readings of his new album.
Water is also an element that often returns in her lyrics and in which the singer-songwriter is almost looking for a friend, an ally to heal and soothe the wounds of life. “the source” is also a hymn to the beauty of uncontaminated nature that grows luxuriant far from the cities, almost a prayer for the environment, and an invitation to choose for ourselves everything that makes us feel truly good.
TO LISTEN NOW
river girl – Femina – truth
TO BE SKIPPED IMMEDIATELY
Just under half an hour, intense and exciting. Please don't skip!
SCORE: 7.75
my baby! – Rating 7.50
river girl – Rating 8.00
cupid – Rating 7.50
FEMALE – Rating 8.00
what do I want what do you want – Rating 7.50
30 years – Rating 7.50
truth (Ft. Colombre) – Rating 8.00
the source
