"This Sicilian Kate Bush enchants us with her vocal talent and stunning arrangements"
Deliri Progressivi
With his second album, FEMMINA, Gera Bertolone finally advances in full light: it's an eminently personal musical opus with rock overtones.
With her intoxicating voice and volcanic temperament, the singer, composer and producer, delivers 11 powerful songs born of hopes and desires.
"I dig deep into the bowels of a distant, arid and rough land." In quest of identity, Gera Bertolone went to draw from childhood memories, in the mountainous landscapes in the heart of Sicily where she was born and raised, and above all, deep down, towards the source, its mother tongue.
With the complicity of his trio, guitar, cello and drums, she unveils a new universe with electric sounds where the telluric energies of his native island echo the delicacy of timeless melodies. She also invited a string quartet and a choir of young women.
In search of a very organic sound, full of vital energy, Gera Bertolone recorded each take using vintage techniques and live conditions at the Studio de Meudon.
FEMMINA is a concentrate of strong emotions, at times twilight, where heady rhythms coexist, the energy of hypnotic dances and the tenderness of eternal lullabies.
These new titles also reveal the artist's questioning : emigration, the freedoms to defend and those to conquer, ...
From the first track, ABBALLATI (DANCE!), we are catapulted into an irrepressible beat and hypnotic loops for a liberating hymn that urges all women to emancipate themself.
It is an album turned inward. It favors the narration in the first person. "It’s a kaleidoscopic portrait, each song is a different reflection of myself." Each song is also the portrait of a woman who always seeks to emancipate herself from a situation and to become fully herself. And love and desire are the main forces of life.
STA TERRA NUN FA PI MIA (THIS LAND IS NOT FOR ME) is the rediscovery of a song of the 1920s by Rosina Gioiosa Trubia about the emigration.
LA NOTTI LIBERTÀ (NIGHT FREEDOM) is certainly the track that symbolizes this album the most. " "Today life pushes me to rise from a long night of inertia to liberate my destiny." This cathartic title speaks of the moment when, after a break-up, we can finally free ourselves and find ourselves.
Rebellious spirit and liberated soul, Gera Bertolone stands away from the spirit of the times and delivers us a fiercely independent and mesmerising opus: "I am a Sicilian woman, I don't belong to any church..." (Text of the song "Abballati").
"I dig deep into the bowels of a distant, arid and rough land."
With his second album, FEMMINA, Gera Bertolone finally advances in full light: it's an eminently personal musical opus with rock overtones.
With her intoxicating voice and volcanic temperament, the singer, composer and producer, delivers 11 powerful songs born of hopes and desires.
"I dig deep into the bowels of a distant, arid and rough land." In quest of identity, Gera Bertolone went to draw from childhood memories, in the mountainous landscapes in the heart of Sicily where she was born and raised, and above all, deep down, towards the source, its mother tongue.
With the complicity of his trio, guitar, cello and drums, she unveils a new universe with electric sounds where the telluric energies of his native island echo the delicacy of timeless melodies. She also invited a string quartet and a choir of young women.
In search of a very organic sound, full of vital energy, Gera Bertolone recorded each take using vintage techniques and live conditions at the Studio de Meudon. FEMMINA is a concentrate of strong emotions, at times twilight, where heady rhythms coexist, the energy of hypnotic dances and the tenderness of eternal lullabies.
These new titles also reveal the artist's questioning : emigration, the freedoms to defend and those to conquer, ...
From the first track, ABBALLATI (DANCE!), we are catapulted into an irrepressible beat and hypnotic loops for a liberating hymn that urges all women to emancipate themself.
It is an album turned inward. It favors the narration in the first person. "It’s a kaleidoscopic portrait, each song is a different reflection of myself." Each song is also the portrait of a woman who always seeks to emancipate herself from a situation and to become fully herself. And love and desire are the main forces of life.
STA TERRA NUN FA PI MIA (THIS LAND IS NOT FOR ME) is the rediscovery of a song of the 1920s by Rosina Gioiosa Trubia about the emigration.
LA NOTTI LIBERTÀ (NIGHT FREEDOM) is certainly the track that symbolizes this album the most. " "Today life pushes me to rise from a long night of inertia to liberate my destiny." This cathartic title speaks of the moment when, after a break-up, we can finally free ourselves and find ourselves.
Rebellious spirit and liberated soul, Gera Bertolone stands away from the spirit of the times and delivers us a fiercely independent and mesmerising opus: "I am a Sicilian woman, I don't belong to any church..." (Text of the song "Abballati").
"I dig deep into the bowels of a distant, arid and rough land."
FEMMINA LP 11 TRACKS
FEMMINA
LP 11 TRACKS
Release date: 18 October 2024
Watch the EPK here
11 powerful songs born of hopes and desires.
It's an eminently personal musical opus with rock overtones. " I’m talking about the incredible willingness of women, their energy to break down barriers. I always talk about freedoms, those to defend and those to conquer. "
ABBALLATI [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
FIGGHIA MIA [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]
CD BOOKLET
" I AM A SICILIAN WOMAN, I DON'T BELONG TO ANY CHURCH."
SINGLE : ABBALLATI
INTERVIEW WITH GERA BERTOLONE
With this new album, FEMMINA, What do you want to transmit?
I’m talking about desires, dreams. Like a common thread, every song is like a portrait of a woman. Each of them seeks to emancipate itself from a situation, from a custom. Each of them seeks to become fully itself. Love and desire are and remain the main forces of life. I’m talking about the incredible willingness of women, their energy to break down barriers. I always talk about freedoms, those to defend and those to conquer.
Are other themes close to your heart?
For example in the song "Sta terra nun fa pi mia" I'm talking about a very personal subject: emigration. This song by Rosina Gioiosa Trubia reflects these complex feelings of isolation, of uprooting experienced by many people when they are in precariousness in a new country and despite many adaptation efforts. It speaks to me. I left Sicily when I was 25 and went through different stages. When I arrived in Paris, I hardly spoke French.
Your album is called FEMMINA. What does it mean?
In the Sicilian language, «Femmina» has a double meaning, it means both «woman» and «female». In English, we do not translate these two notions into a single word. For me, it rightly means the feeling of being a woman in its completeness, of being oneself without stereotypes, in its authenticity.
What are your main sources of inspiration?
Initially, I was freely inspired by the melodies and poems of my childhood.
The melodies that often come to my mind, those that haunt me. With my musicians, we worked on a kind of transmutation, we mixed them up. I was born and raised in a mountain village in the heart of Sicily. It was for me like a necessary homecoming. The quest for my deepest roots. A tribute also to this strong sicilian culture that constitutes me deeply. I dig deep into the bowels of a distant, arid and rough land. Maybe it’s an exorcism too! I don’t know… As a student, I also researched the musical traditions of my island. This is an anchor. And, as I like musical fusions, musical tensions, I also invited a classical quartet and a choir of young women on some songs.
Have other artists inspired you?
It’s a very personal album, I put a lot of myself in it. I’m always trying to chart my own way forward. But of course what we appreciate exerts influences. For example, I really like Neil Young, Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Rachid Taha, Portishead, PJ Harvey...
How and where did you record the new album?
We recorded at the Studio de Meudon, in a pretty classic way. We were in a bubble for a few days. A true working comfort. After a long period of research and preparatory work with my musicians, these were the best conditions to record. With a good feeling and good mood between us. There was this vision: I wanted for the album a very organic sound, full of vital energy. We recorded each take in live conditions, each time the whole song and all together.
PRESS
1st ALBUM : " LA SICILIENNE " (2015)
SONORA RECORDINGS / SEAHORSE RECORDINGS / AUDIOGLOBE
"She is an outstanding artist... this Sicilian Kate Bush enchants us with her vocal talent and stunning arrangements that have the quality to bring us closer to an unknown language..." - Deliri Progressivi
"It’s a noteworthy album featuring the striking, expressive vocals of Gera Bertolone." - World Music Central
"The music by a real songwriter, magnificent. We are transported by emotion at every moment." - Note Verticali
"In this work nothing was left to chance. The tracklist of this album is remarkably diverse. It is a particularly respectful recreation with a refined signature that suggests the true creation of an author." - Indiana Music Mag
"Gera Bertolone, a real Sicilian..." - Musica Mag
Tour: " A FLIGHT TO SICILY " (2022-2024)
"The intoxicating voice of Gera Bertolone also punctuates the concert with splendid songs." - Le Courrier
"A fascinating journey to the discovery of a luminous music." - La Tribune
"They make relive a true treasure. They make us discover the sound of an entire era in a modern and coherent instrumental formula." - Le Dauphiné Libéré
"Gera Bertolone’s excellent performance on voice and clarinet, brilliantly accompanied by Pascal Rondeau on guitar. Adding touches of sensuality, Sicilian charisma and bodily expression, Gera set the tone and aesthetic of the festival entirely based on openness to the world. " - L’Est Républicain
CONTACTS
© 2024 Sonora Recordings / Made by Sunny Road Factory - Paris / All photos are copyright of Philippe Porter