It is a sign of the times that it has become rather rare to describe an album as being upbeat. Misery loves company, or so we are led to believe, but Roberto Cassani seems determined to always walk on the sunny side of the street and his album “Oh!…L’Amore” duly entices you to cross the road of life and join him.
As an Italian living in Scotland, Roberto Cassani would be perfectly within his rights to jump between the cultural differences between two countries that share little more than religion and deep fat fryers for his musical inspiration. However, his particular musical journey is always one led by his heart and, with his endearingly sentimental style, he can throw in songs about death and cancer and still be a convincing purveyor of hope and sunshine. Add in the quirky sense of humour that also pervades his songs and, as you might by now imagine, you get songs that will charm you.
His voice is accented and sometimes awkward yet, while this might well annoy the musical perfectionist, it is this honest and direct approach to a delivering a song that make you want to hear the next one. Anyway, Roberto Cassani was always more of a troubadour than a straight down the line singer and he has no shortage of stories that will reach your heart.
That makes “Oh!…L’Amore” something of an anachronism. As an album, it would seem to make little commercial sense in our prefabricated plastic world but it is nonetheless an album that lifts the spirits and makes the world seem a better place. In my less than humble opinion, that makes this album deserving of some attention from your ears.
Best song? The delightfully offbeat “And I’m In Love”.
The verdict? Better than the rest, without a doubt.