Rain-slicked coastal air and late night solitude spill out of the opening acoustic arpeggios on Dew as Ginevra Benettini stakes her claim as one of the most exciting young voices emerging from Italy right now. Recording out of La Spezia, the twenty year old musician launches her debut single with an astonishing balance of quiet intimacy and grand emotional scale. The song begins with just a delicate fingerpicked classical guitar and her breathy voice floating above the quiet room noise, but within seconds the delicate arrangement gathers momentum and transforms into a pulsing storm of dark alternative pop.
Her vocal performance carries a raw and unfiltered magic that immediately brings to mind the dramatic melancholy of The Smiths while maintaining a completely modern edge. When she sings the line run, run, run and music loud, the words roll off her tongue with a desperate kind of joy that feels instantly infectious. It is the sound of an artist finding absolute freedom inside her own creation and refusing to pull any punches.
What makes the composition work so brilliantly is how the soft organic elements clash against tiny sparks of synthetic texture. Electronic sub-bass pulses begin to throb beneath the nylon strings, and percussion crackles through the dark backdrop like sudden lightning strikes across a calm bay.
You can hear the adventurous artistic spirit of Radiohead in the way the production shifts beneath the melody, and there is a kinetic pulse that feels directly inherited from Italian electronic pioneers like Subsonica. Yet Benettini never lets the technical flourishes overpower her human touch. When the beat kicks into high gear during the second half, her layered harmonies blossom into an absolute triumphant canopy of sound that makes you want to hit replay the second it fades into silence.
To hit this level of depth and confidence on a debut release is nothing short of incredible. Dew feels like the first chapter of a massive story, and Ginevra Benettini has delivered a magnificent statement piece that announces her presence with unforgettable beauty.
