Romano Bianchi - Le Don et la Disgrâce (2023) Hi-Res

Remember when Romano Bianchi bewitched his little world with the arrival of his album called Fringale. The Swiss musician had incredibly captivated us with his poetic and oh-so-immersive psychedelic pop which allowed him to climb many levels. This year, he drives the point home with his successor soberly titled The Gift and The Disgrace.

The disc opens with a “Hard Core” laying the foundations with class and distinction. Romano Bianchi offers us a good summary of romantic psychedelic pop which surprises with his more incisive writing on “The same thing” and “Hello madame” which deals with social anxiety with delicacy. Enough to spoil us as it should be.

Adopting a slightly more cynical stance on “HS To HS” which follows in the footsteps of the late Bowie or even on the high quality arrangements of “Let them speak” and “The Roaring Twenties”, Romano Bianchi shines again with his pop so elegant. With Le Don et la Disgrâce which contains gems like “Le monotone” and “L'enfer” with their contagious groove, the French-speaking musician frees himself from all the codes of contemporary psychedelic pop by adding a good dose of originality that will put him on a new pedestal.