Malika Ayane – Senza Fare Sul Serio

“They should have kicked that chorus up one more notch”

Tim: If you’ve never heard of her (as indeed I hadn’t until Apple Music suggested her to me) Malika’s been going a while, but has never had much (or indeed any) success outside her native Italy. Here’s her current one, which recently entered the Italian top 10 (and number two on the Airplay charts).

Tom: Good job getting a product-placement plug in that introduction, Tim.

Tim: No, just a mild recommendation.

Tom: And for the second day in a row, we’ve got a brilliant introduction: a nice combination of synth and traditional instruments, and a pleasing chord progression.

Tim: So from what I can tell with Google doing its semi-reliable translation, it’s something about being serious, and being able to look back about doing stuff not too seriously, or possibly wasting time by being boring, I’m not entirely sure – the video implies just plain dissatisfaction with a repetitive life, so let’s go with that.

Tom: “Perdi tempo” is “lost time”, so yes; it’s along those lines.

Tim: What I am sure about is that it’s a really rather enjoyable track – a bit more melancholy than often I’d like to listen to, but it certainly does what it’s trying to do in a very listenable manner, so good work all.

Tom: I found my foot was tapping half way through the first listen, which is always a good sign: but I found myself waiting for a Big Chorus that never really came. The producers, I reckon, should have kicked that chorus up one more notch; right now, there just isn’t enough to set it apart and the whole song seems to plod a bit more than it should.

Tim: I won’t disagree with you – like I said, more melancholy that I’d like – but for the track it wants to be it’s about right. I’d say it’s a shame she’s never broken out outside Italy, but let’s face it that’ll never happen unless she drops the Italian, and when its doing so well for her, why bother?