Sita

A formidable talent, an enfant prodige of the Salento music scene, Alessia Tondo, the female voice of the marvellous Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino, releases her debut solo album, Sita. Conceived in solitude in what she recalls as a personal healing rite, which uses words to exorcise the malepensiero (evil thought). This, explains the title, a dialect word for pomegranate, a shared Mediterranean symbol of good luck, healing, fertility and fulfillment of desires.

‘I have done it even without raising my voice too much and without necessarily having to demonstrate what technical skills I had acquired over the years,’ she says, introducing her avant-folk material, which resonates with personal and universal meanings, blending entrancing singing with minimalist acoustic and electronic textures. ‘A Pucundria’ opens with solo voice and electronics, paving the way for the ballad ‘Me Putia Basta’, featuring CGS’s maestro Mauro Durante on violin. On ‘Aria’ a looped voice builds up the rhythm sustaining profound lyricism, as voice and guitar arpeggios deliver the cosy ‘Pacenza’. The rhythm increases for ‘Cacciala Fore’, a catchy invitation to get rid of melancholy. Then, Redi Hasa’s cello embroiders the intimate serenade ‘Sta Notte’. Finally, ‘Filastrocca’ closes a low-key gem of unpredictable narrative.