Michéal Castaldo is an Italian-born Canadian with an amazing set of vocals. His sixth and newest album, Bergamot is exactly what the cover suggests – “Like a Breath of Fresh Air.”
The album opens with a powerful ballad, “Na Muri (Un Amor),” that sucks you in to listen to the remainder of the tracks. The second song, “Calabrisella Mia” is a more upbeat number that strategically keeps you hooked. A few of the songs, including the third track “Riu (Tempation Down in Rio)” and the fifth track “Senza Amuri (Without Love Where Would You be Now),” contained some strange vocalizations that sounded like moaning and yodeling at times. This may be a signature of Italian music, but for me, I would have liked to hear Castaldo’s singing voice more than the instrumental breaks.
Not only does Castaldo sing with a refreshing tone and a great voice, but he also has an incredibly relaxing quality to his songs. For instance, the seventh song, “Spetu Pe Tia (Waitin’ for You)” sounded just like a lullaby and successfully made me forget all my woes while I carried away in the music.
A fun part of this album is that it contains songs that were originally made famous in English, including Enrique Iglesias’ “Hero” and Freddie King’s “Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman.” I think “Eroi” is my favorite song of the album, which is partially due to the fact that I’m a sucker for Iglesias’ version. But there’s something about Castaldo’s sexy Italian accent that almost makes this song even better than the original.
I may not speak or understand Italian, but after listening to this album, I definitely want to learn the language.
Image courtesy of Amazon