Alba (Ultimo album)

Alba (transl. Sunrise) is the fifth studio album by Italian singer-songwriter Ultimo, released on 17 February 2023 by Ultimo Records.^[1][2]

The album was preceded by the singles "Vieni nel mio cuore", "Ti va di stare bene" and "Alba", which was presented in competition at the Sanremo Music Festival 2023, where it finished in fourth place.^[3]

The project consists of fourteen tracks, written and composed by the singer-songwriter himself with the participation in the production of Federico Nardelli, Andrea Rigonat and Matteo Nesi.^[4][5]

Gabriele Fazio of Agenzia Giornalistica Italia states that the album represents "the boundary between style and inability to experiment," finding it "labile" and "indistinguishable" from previous projects, because "he has found a recipe, he has consciously chosen to constantly re-propose it, [...] as long as it works". Fazio emphasizes that musically, it is "simple and direct." Fazio writes that the singer works well with the "piano and voice" combination, although "damnedly repetitive," finding it "a total disaster" when he strays from these sounds.^[6]

Silvia Gianatti of Vanity Fair Italia writes that the project stems from "the need to show his world," although it lacks "a common thread" musically, with the exception of the piano, which remains "the protagonist of his compositions", with "care for the sound".^[7]