By José Gandue @spinning zone
Pop music (yes, with a capital P) deserves respect; it must be done with care, with love for the listener., Knowing that every member of the audience has a heart, He has feelings, and demystifying the tangled web of thoughts we have every day through songs that know how to summarize what we want to say is a wonderful art that must be protected and admired. That's why I like what this Argentinian artist does. Chino Mansutti, who has just released his fifth album, called For the better.
What does this album sound like? It's a collection of tunes that share a common structure. Beatlesque influences, hints of funk, lots of soul, and what some might call "that undeniable Argentine sound,", This is a genre with sixty years of history that Mansutti knows how to honor, and at the same time, appropriate and transform into his own. At a time when many believe that one must be fueled by testosterone and discordant shouts to make oneself heard, what we hear from this musician, based in the city of Santa Fe, She has a valuable feminine sensibility: supportive, welcoming.
It all begins with the song that gives the album its title, a composition with sixties characteristics, which begins with piano and voice, and gradually acquires an orchestral character, filling the entire sonic spectrum, as John, Paul, Ringo, and George could do in their time (the Fab Four certainly paved the way, that's undeniable). Then you can hear a moving ballad called Three, made mainly with acoustic guitar and keyboards, where the main theme is confirmed, the one that will be present throughout the half hour duration of this entire album: A staunch defense of the right to tenderness. And at this point in my life, for me (and hopefully for many) this is a very brave position, which many shamelessly deny.
One of my favorite moments is when the cover of You, written by Lisandro Aristimuño, perhaps the highest emotional point of the entire album, the most "rock" one, with an exciting interplay of voices, where the joy of the performance is never lost for a second, being an exciting declaration of love that can be understood anywhere on the planet.
I want to kiss your gaze
Before you close your eyes
I want to kiss you while you're asleep
And wake up in your mouth.
Mansutti knows, in his own way, how to make this discourse his own and how to expand upon it.
The album closes with My way, A melancholic piece that knows how to envelop us, like the end of a day in the company of our loved ones, a well-deserved rest after touching our hearts and understanding that it's better to turn to a kiss than to any other weapon. We need more music like this., more life to celebrate what we feel.
