From the Italian-born Julia Bardo comes her debut album Bauhaus, L’Appartamento. The collection of 10 songs chronicles the singer’s emotional and personal journey from her home in Brescia, Italy to Manchester, England. Forced to endure the Covid-19 lockdowns in England, the time apart from her homeland allowed Bardo to re-contextualize her relationship with Italy and her Italian cultural identity which became conspicuous against her English backdrop.
The album opens with “The Most,” a song, through its interplay between the soft sound and hard lyrics, manages to carry subtle effectiveness. “Sweet baby, I’m getting crazy/ I need you here cause I love you the most,” Bardo expresses a want for her baby who, knowing the context of the album, can be interpreted both as a human lover and the personification of her beloved Italy. However, due to the soft-coolness of her delivery, the Italian singer never begs. She instead insists that the listener comes to her.
This cool/soft/gentle delivery technique sums up the entirety of Bauhaus, L’Appartamento well. Throughout the entirety of the album, Bardo seems content in her little corner of the musical world (somewhere in Italy perhaps?). No song is sonically the loudest, but those who do stumble upon her art will find her music speaks volumes.
After “The Most,” Bardo follows with “No Feeling,” “Into Your Eyes” and “Love, Out of Control.” These songs seep with solitude and express deep lamentations stemmed from isolation— solitude and isolation were major influences when Bardo wrote this album. The songs, melodically speaking, somewhat resemble “The Most”—commanding soft-pop/rock— and once more also prove to be equally impressive vehicles for Bardo’s songwriting talents, the lyricism giving each track enough distinction to prevent any sort of muddling.
“No Feeling” in particular is the closest the album comes to a stand-out track. It makes sense the piece was chosen as the album’s single. “No, you cannot catch that feeling, in the past time and for life/Sing a song for a non-believer, while you slowly get rid of me/No feeling” she delivers stoically (as the song’s title suggests), heightening the themes present within the lyrics. Bardo and her team also made a music video to accompany the song which features Bardo in a groovy but sterile environment.
Next, comprising the middle and near-end of the album, comes “The One,” “Do This to Me,” “No I Don’t Understand,” “Impossible” and “It’s Okay (To Not Be Okay).” Throughout all of these, Bardo continues to use her personification technique, having the subject of her music act as both person and country. Though the Italian artist risks repetitiveness, she deftly maneuvers away from this with the extremely palpable struggle between a longing for Italy and getting used to England. The album feels like one long experience rather than 10 different tracks about the same experience.
Furthermore, redundancy is eliminated due to the album’s style. Bauhaus, L’Appartamento is an album that both needs and deserves to be listened to in one seating. Each song aids the other, forming a cohesive narrative. The overall desire is not to produce one or two memorable pieces, but to emote something impactful and lasting to the listener, which is done successfully.
The album ends with “Goodbye Tomorrow.” Heartbreaking lyricism and perfect order placement come together to leave the listener both torn and complete. Bardo leaves the listener with the lyrics “I said goodbye to the faces that I knew the most/I will survive, I’ll go my own way…I walk away in silence/I walk away from you.” She then walks away and leaves the listener in the post-album silence.
Bauhaus, L’Appartamento is not only an impressive debut album but also an impressive feat of music. Bardo catches the essence of herself and bravely puts her emotions on display for the listener’s (bitter) pleasure, demonstrating that some of the best art comes from not-so-easy places.
Stand Outs:
- “No Feeling”
- “Impossible”
- “Goodbye Tomorrow”
Rating: 8.5/10
Listen to Bauhaus, L’Appartamento on Spotify.
Follow Julia Bardo on Instagram and Twitter.
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