“Baita” is the title of Albe's new album. A record that tells what remains: the friendships that save you, the imperfect but authentic loves, the roots that pull you out of confusion, the provincial streets where you learn who you really are.
It is a journey into everyday life and memory, in which each song explores a different facet of this “non-traditional family” that has always accompanied Albe.
On a sound level, Baita is a compact and recognizable work. The productions of Francesco Savini and Alessandro Gemelli combine contemporary pop, Italian indie and Brit-pop and folk influences, favoring exclusively real instruments and creating a lively, organic, almost “live” aesthetic.
In the heart of “Baita” a conversation opens that seems to really take place around a laid table. The singer-songwriter welcomes us into his “home”, understood not as a physical place but as a symbolic perimeter of his inner world: family, friendships, province, loves, everyday life.
THE INTERVIEW
Albe, then: are we there? Are you ready for the release of Baita?
Yes, very ready. And, to make it even more coherent, yes: I'm actually in the cabin as we speak. Or rather, in what we in Brescia call “baita”, that is, simply home. Here in Milan I recreated that climate: a space that resembles me.
Let's start from here: the essence of this album. What is this “hut” of yours?
They are the only things that really represented me at that moment: my house in Brescia, my family, my closest friends, my girlfriend. Apparently simple, almost ordinary elements, but which were my emotional geography. I wanted to enclose them in a single image, a sort of totem house, as we call it.
A kind of emotional atlas?
Yes, exactly. This definition fits very well. It is my world in its truest everyday life. And inside there is also a lot of province, that intimate dimension that stays with you. In the last song there are even my friends who are out of tune and out of time: you can't get more provincial than that.
Compared to your debut, however, there is a clear maturation here. How did you get there?
Growing up. Simply this. At a certain point I understood that continuing to chase numbers, views, all that noise brought nothing to the substance. I wanted to grow my music the way I was growing. It wasn't a sudden turn of events: it was a natural evolution, perhaps even late, but inevitable. I gave priority to songs, to living flesh, to truth.
In the introduction you talk about the album as a “Sunday lunch”. Let's play a game: let's assign a place at the table to the tracks. Who sits at the head of the table?
We Are Themwithout a doubt. She's the messiest one, the one who knocks glasses over at the table. On its sides I place I Told You So and Baita: the three loudest together.
Then, as we go down towards the bottom of the table, the quietest ones arrive: Rosario, I'm no longer with you And In the End It's Me. They are the ones who speak in a low voice, who observe the scene without being too noticed.
Let's talk about the cover. How was it born?
Almost by chance. We had to shoot some content in a villa near my town, a friend's house. At a certain point we really started a Sunday lunch: no poses, just life, and the photographer who captured those moments.
Among the shots, the one you see was simply the truest: it represented the record perfectly.
It seems studied, but instead we were immersed in lunch. And—I admit it—I also turned out well, so it's better that way.
To present Baita you chose house concerts. What do they represent?
They are the essence of the record: music that is born at home and returns to the home. We do Milan, Bologna, Rome and Naples, in real homes of friends. Anyone who purchased the vinyl can participate. It's all unplugged: guitar, voice, chatter, sofas. Total intimacy, no band, no real stage. It's shared listening, almost a meeting.
We close with a Sanremo aside: have you seen the names in the race?
Yes! My favorites are Tommaso Paradiso and Fulminacci, perhaps even more so Fulminacci. I follow them and respect them.
THE RECORD TRACK BY TRACK
CABIN
“Baita” is the title track. The title, which means “home” in Brescia dialect, contains the essence of a deeply autobiographical project: a record that tells of loves, friendships, roots and the artist's inner world with sincerity and authenticity. The piece fully embodies these elements, intertwining them with an indie-folk sound with an energetic rhythm. It is a song that not only introduces the listener to this journey, but which more than any other reveals the concept and the common thread of the entire album.
PAGEER
The piece revolves around the theme of authentic bonds: those that remain, even when everything else changes. A return to what really matters: the people and places where we feel like ourselves, without filters. Constructed as a pop/rock ballad with an international flavor, “Cercapersone” blends melancholy and emotional momentum, with a choral refrain designed to be sung, shared, experienced.
I TOLD YOU SO
The song fuses Brit rock and pop punk sounds, giving life to an introspective story in which the artist confronts himself, breaking down the ego and showing a new awareness.
The song retraces the last years of Albe's love: a continuous struggle between desires and immaturity, a sincere admission of one's faults which, despite everything, always leads to the same happy ending. “I told you so” is a hymn to those bonds that, for better or for worse, resist time and difficulties, even when admitting it is difficult.
LIKE EVERYONE DOES
“Come fa tutti” by Albe is an outlet song, written with the urgency of freeing oneself from intrusive thoughts. The song is dedicated to those who do not follow fashions, to those who do not run away from their own weaknesses, but above all to those who believe in a collective rebirth without becoming part of a herd. The choice of a more rock and alternative sound compared to previous works was born during a classic gray Milanese day, perfectly proportional to the soul of the piece: nostalgia and frustration mixed with hope and the desire to be heard.
ROSARY
With “Rosario” Albe talks about the importance of small gestures and the value of simplicity through the figure of the rose seller. A memory that takes him back to aperitifs with friends in the provincial town, where that presence, over the years, has become part of the company, capable of warming the heart and making people feel at home. “Rosario” is a fully performed author song, with a romantic refrain to sing at the top of your lungs at a concert.
I WILL NEVER GO BACK WITH YOU AGAIN
The song marks an evolution towards more intimate and reflective sounds, with references to the indie rock universe. The song addresses the theme of lack with a clear and aware gaze: it is the story of a separation that becomes an opportunity to rediscover oneself, to learn to feel good alone without constantly depending on someone else.
“I'm never going back with you” is the awareness of having overcome a breakup with dignity, transforming pain into personal growth.
IN THE END IT'S ME
The song, with an acoustic and intimate sound, represents a deeply autobiographical and introspective page in Albe's journey. Written in one go as a stream of consciousness aimed at the Albe of twenty years ago, the piece recounts current life, his reflections on what has changed and what has remained the same, intertwining memory, identity and vision of the future. The song speaks to anyone who has ever dealt with their dreams, with falls and with the search for authentic meaning.
Albe says: «It is a dialogue with the past, but also a reminder for the future: in the end, with my mistakes and my victories, I remain».
WE ARE THEM
“We are those” is the track that closes the album and celebrates the deep bond between the artist and his group of closest friends, a real family: the safe place to return to. Energetic and choral, the piece fuses English indie folk with Italian songwriting. A distinctive element is its ability to make listening to the album cyclical, bringing the listener back to the same sounds with which the journey began.
LIVE
To celebrate the release of BAITA, Albe has chosen to bring his music home in the most literal sense of the term: 4 house concerts in 4 Italian cities, exclusive experiences and collections dedicated to fans who will pre-order the vinyl of the album. An intimate and direct meeting, where the concept of the Baita – as a refuge, a place of affection and sharing – finds its most concrete form.
The dates:
4 December – Milan
5 December – Bologna
6 December – Rome
7 December – Naples
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