Black Cat (Zucchero album)

Black Cat is the thirteenth studio album by the Italian blues rock singer-songwriter Zucchero Fornaciari, released on 29 April 2016.[1] It's his first full-length studio album in six years, after Chocabeck in 2010, given that La Sesión Cubana (2012) was a mix of unreleased, previously released and cover songs.

Black Cat
Studio album by
Zucchero
ReleasedApril 29, 2016
GenreBlues rock
LabelUniversal
ProducerT Bone Burnett, Brendan O'Brien, Don Was
Zucchero chronology
Una Rosa Blanca
(2013)		 Black Cat
(2016)		 Studio Vinyl Collection
(2016)
Singles from Black Cat
  1. "Partigiano Reggiano"
    Released: March 24, 2016
  2. "Voci (Namanama Version)"
    Released: March 25, 2016
  3. "13 buone ragioni"
    Released: June 17, 2016
  4. "Turn The World Down"
    Released: June 17, 2016
  5. "Ci si arrende"
    Released: January 6, 2017

Overview

The album is marked by a music which goes back to soul & blues roots and sound of the famous Oro Incenso & Birra (1989).[2][3][4][5] According to Zucchero, the album does not have the meaning of Western prejudice of Black cat, yet Afro-American for "figure of speech, a greeting, a symbol of auspice". As well there's a component of anarchism toward the "market rules". It is his "darkest album and rough ever in terms of sonority".[6]

On CNN it was announced that the album would have included a new song Streets of Surrender (S.O.S) which lyrics are written by Bono, dedicated to the victims of November 2015 Paris attacks.[7] Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits is a special guest and guitarist on the song, as well Ci Si Arrende.[1] The single Voci is sampled by Ignorant Boy, Beautiful Girl by Loney, Dear, while Ten More Days is a cover by Avicii.[8]

The album's English version includes collaboration with Elvis Costello on Love Again (renamed as Turn the World Down), Spanish version collaboration with Alejandro Sanz on Fatti Di Sogni (renamed as Hechos de sueños), while on Japanese version guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei played on Ti Voglio Sposare.[6]

The album was presented at the record breaking 11 consecutive concerts at the Arena in Verona in September 2016, and following Black Cat World Tour.[3] The Arena concerts, held between 16–28 September, were the only concerts in Italy in that year, and were special events with vast and diverse repertoire of old and new songs, and diverse special guests.[4][5] With 11 more concerts at the Arena in 2017, Zucchero broke his own record, ending with three residencies and 22 concerts in one year in that location.

Composition

Zucchero recounts that the album was "born" during the tour in Southern parts of United States (2013). He played in cities like New Orleans, Nashville, Lafayette, and immersed himself in their blues sounds, with guitars played with bottlenecks cut. He wanted to reproduce sounds from films like 12 Years a Slave and Django Unchained.[6]

He wrote the songs like in the early days when everything was simpler as didn't have nothing to lose, and didn't care about the logic of the market. He intended to have different "dress" for each song, thus entrusted seven different songs to each of album producers T Bone Burnett, Brendan O'Brien, Don Was, of which twelve were chosen. The songs show "social obligation", and few gospel songs lyrics talk about "new slaves": the migrants.[6]

In the single Partigiano Reggiano (Partisan from Reggio) a verse sings Bella ciao. Although the Reggio Emilia province was "red", and his uncle during World War II was deported to Germany, he "speak not of right or left, but someone who has ideals and that is ready to make wall against what does not work".[6]

Release

The album was released on 29 April 2016 by Universal, in CD, standard vinyl and limited edition red vinyl.[1] It was released in three different versions; Italian, International (with English and Spanish version), Japanese.[6] The song "Partigiano Reggiano" is album's first single in Italy, released 24 March, while "Voci (Namanama Version)" the album's first single internationally, released 25 March.[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Zucchero Fornaciari, except where noted.

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Partigiano reggiano"   
2."13 buone ragioni"   
3."Ti voglio sposare"   
4."Ci si arrende" (feat. Mark Knopfler)   
5."Ten More Days"Avicii, Simon AldredAvicii, Simon Aldred 
6."L'anno dell'amore"Zucchero, D. M. Troiano, H. Sullivan, R. Kenner, P. Glan J., P. PanellaZucchero, D. M. Troiano, H. Sullivan, R. Kenner, P. Glan J. 
7."Hey Lord"   
8."Fatti di sogni"   
9."La tortura della luna" Zucchero, N. Ruzicka, S. Ioannou 
10."Love Again"   
11."Terra incognita"   
12."Voci (Namanama Version)" Loney, Dear, Zucchero 
13."Streets of Surrender (S.O.S)" (feat. Mark Knopfler)Bono, S. Carmody  

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (2016) Peak
position
Argentine Albums (CAPIF)[9]
[10]		 4
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[12] 33
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[13] 27
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[14] 17
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[15]
[16]		 36
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 24
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[18] 13
French Albums (SNEP)[19] 51
US World Albums[20]
 9
Italian Albums (FIMI)[21] 1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[22] 1

Year-end charts
Chart (2016) Position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[23] 29
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 148
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 11
Italian Albums (FIMI)[26] 9
Chart (2017) Position
Italian Albums (FIMI)[27] 71

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[28] Gold 7,500*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[29] Gold 10,000^
Italy (FIMI)[30] 2× Platinum 100,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone

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References
  1. "Zucchero: è 'Partigiano Reggiano' il primo singolo del nuovo album 'Black Cat'" (in Italian). Adnkronos. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  2. ""Black Cat" È Il Nuovo Album Di ZUCCHERO Contenente Un Brano Firmato Da BONO Degli U2" (in Italian). AllMusicItalia. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  3. "Zucchero Da Record: A Settembre 2016 Dieci Date Di Fila All'Arena Di Verona" (in Italian). Radio Italia. 28 April 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  4. "A Maggio 2016 Il Nuovo Album Di Zucchero" (in Italian). Radio Italia. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  5. Dondoni, Luca (18 November 2015). "Nuovo disco e tour mondiale per Zucchero" (in Italian). La Stampa. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  6. "Black cat, il nuovo disco di Zucchero: "Il mio album più nero e ruvido di sempre"/L'intervista" (in Italian). Adnkronos. 28 April 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  7. Brandle, Lars (7 December 2015). "U2's Bono Has Written a Song for Paris". Billboard. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  8. "Black Cat, uno Zucchero nero ma non troppo" (in Italian). Indiscreto. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 5 May 2016.
  9. "Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat". Argentine Albums. CAPIF. On Fecha, select {{{date}}} to see the correspondent chart. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  10. . Capif https://www.capif.org.ar/rankings/. Retrieved 24 November 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. "Austriancharts.at – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  12. "Ultratop.be – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  13. "Ultratop.be – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  14. "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select {{{date}}} on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  15. "Top Stranih [Top Foreign]" (in Croatian). Top Foreign Albums. Hrvatska diskografska udruga. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  16. . HDU Toplista http://www.hdu-toplista.com/index.php?what=arhiva&&w=details&id=1662. Retrieved 25 November 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  18. "Offiziellecharts.de – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  19. "Lescharts.com – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  20. "World albums chart". Billboard. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  21. "FIMI - Classifiche - Classifica settimanale WK 18 (dal 2016-04-29 al 2016-05-05)". Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  22. "Swisscharts.com – Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari – Black Cat". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  23. "Ö3 Austria Top 40 - Album-Charts 2016". oe3.orf.at. Archived from the original on 4 January 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  24. "Rapports annuelles 2016". Ultratop and Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  25. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade Alben 2016 – hitparade.ch". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  26. . FIMI http://www.fimi.it/news/top-of-the-music-fimi-gfk-2016-le-uniche-classifiche-annuali-complete. Retrieved 15 February 2017. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  27. "Classifiche annuali dei dischi più venduti e dei singoli più scaricati nel 2017" (in Italian). FIMI. Archived from the original (Click on "Scarica allegato" and open the "Classifica annuale 2017 Album combined" file) on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  28. "Austrian album certifications – Zucchero – Black Cat" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  29. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Zucchero; 'Black Cat')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  30. "Italian album certifications – Zucchero – Black Cat" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 13 March 2017. Select "Tutti gli anni" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Black Cat" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".
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