Fabio Zuffanti – Hjarta (self-release, 2024)
Five years after his previous solo venture, In/Out, Fabio Zuffanti returned with Hjarta, a strikingly atmospheric album that embraces the essence of winter in both sound and spirit. Released on December 21, 2024, the winter solstice, this collection of six spellbinding songs ventures into a dreamy, frosty world where icy songwriting, soaring guitars, laid back vocals, and snow-laden psychedelia converge with sweeping symphonic Mellotron and transfixing electronics.
The album’s title, Hjarta, Icelandic for “heart,” has a poetic origin. It stems from a poem by Italian writer Tommaso Labranca, which Zuffanti first set to music during a live reading in 2010. That literary connection underscores the album’s introspective nature, as its compositions unfold like delicate verses shaped by the season’s stark beauty.
For now, Hjarta will not see a physical release. Instead, it is available exclusively on Zuffanti’s Bandcamp site, where listeners can download it for a name your price donation.
Zuffanti is no stranger to reinvention. Internationally recognized as a cornerstone of Italian progressive rock, he has spent three decades traversing an eclectic range of genres, from pop and ambient electronic to industrial, folk, jazz, and western classical. Whether through his solo work or his numerous projects, including Finisterre, Höstsonaten, and La Maschera di Cera, Zuffanti’s discography nears fifty albums, each an exploration of new frontiers. Beyond his work as a musician, he has also made his mark as a writer, music critic, festival organizer, and producer, continuously broadening his artistic reach.
Song themes:
A Different House – A meditation on love as an unselfish, one-way emotion, detached from the need for reciprocation.
Neve all’Alba (Snow at Dawn) – A sense of disconnection and emotional distance pervades as the narrator struggles with an unresponsive presence, ultimately facing an unbreakable barrier.
Pozzo della Notte (Well of the Night) – A surreal and poetic exploration of love, loss, and existential longing, where the night itself becomes an abyss reflecting inner turmoil.
Morire di Pioggia (Dying of Rain) – Stark imagery of fragility and decay, with rain symbolizing both sorrow and the fading of a once-vibrant presence.
Nuova Terra (New Land) – A vision of resilience and transformation, where cold and hardship give way to the possibility of renewal and self-discovery.
Hjarta (Instrumental)
All songs composed by Fabio Zuffanti, except A Different House (Ricci-Zuffanti)
Performed by Fabio Zuffanti, Matteo Ricci, and Agostino Macor
Recorded, mixed, and mastered at Studio 77 in Genoa by Matteo Ricci
Produced by Matteo Ricci and Fabio Zuffanti
Cover image by Renato Parolin
Buy Hjarta.