What’s the day? Don’t know? It’s a fun day anyway and just the kind of day to listen to the debut album from Italian singer Teresa Mascianà. The album is called “Don’t Love Me” but I might well be about to disobey that very command.
This is an album with sparkle in its eye and a spring in its step. Even in the album’s deepest emotional moments – the Heart meets Tom Petty sentiment of “This Song Is For You”, for example – Ms Mascianà’s almost girlish charm shines through. Nothing seems calculated here and you can’t help but be swept away on a wave of refreshing simplicity. Of course, that simplicity is just the impression and Daniele Grasso’s production, in fact, adds lots of sonic detailing to the proceedings.
As is the way of things modern, there is an undeniable retro fell here with “My World” evoking The Tubes on its way to becoming the kind of rock powered steamroller that they just don’t make anymore. “Too Late” might well be fluffier and poppier but is no less endearing for all that.
“Don’t Love me” turns out to be the kind of album that you could actually love. Personally, I think it would have been better if Teresa Mascianà had sung it in Italian rather than English but that would perhaps have limited its commercial appeal. That notwithstanding, no one can deny with the sincerity, energy or indeed the retro appeal of this album.