- country:France
- region:Île de France
- style(s):Rock, World Pop
- label:Sonora Recordings
- type:Band
- gender:female
- instrumentation:vocal
- artist contact:SONORA Artist Management
Links
GERA BERTOLONE ANNOUNCES THE RELEASE OF HER SECOND STUDIO ALBUM FEMMINA on 18 October 2024 / SONORA RECORDINGS
FEMMINA, Gera Bertolone’s second album, is released today in digipack and digital. With this rock-folk opus, Gera delivers 11 powerful songs born of hopes and desires. Rebellious spirit and liberated soul, Gera Bertolone stands away from the spirit of the times and delivers us a fiercely independent and mesmerizing opus. It addresses universal themes such as emigration, the search for freedom, love and offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of women in search of emancipation.
«FEMMINA, for me, means accurately the feeling of being a woman in its completeness, of being oneself without stereotypes, in its authenticity. This is a message I give to all other women that we must seek our freedom, that we must not be afraid to speak, we must have the courage to always be ourself, authentic.» - SEGNALI SONORI
With the album FEMMINA, the Sicilian-born, Paris-based singer-songwriter "digs deep into the bowels of a distant land, arid and rough", goes in search of her identity, draws on the reminiscences of her childhood, in the mountainous landscapes of the heart of Sicily where she was born and grew up. Each of the 11 songs tells a story, an emotional journey.
«As a main thread, each song is like a portrait of a woman. Each one seeks to emancipate herself from a situation, a custom, to become fully herself. Love and desire are the driving forces of life. I speak about the incredible strength of women and their tireless fight for freedom; freedoms both defended and conquered.»
With the complicity of his trio, - guitar, amplified cello and drums -, Gera unveils today a new universe with electric sounds where the telluric energies of his native island echo the delicacy of timeless melodies.
«For this second album, I wanted a sound with real emotion, a universe with rock sounds, electric, that translates my emotions into chiaroscuro. With my musicians, we recorded in the studio looking for a very organic sound, full of energy. And, I’ve been looking for that sound for years.»
In search of a sound full of vital energy, with also the complicity of a string quartet and a choir of young women, Gera Bertolone recorded each take using vintage techniques and live conditions at the Studio de Meudon: it's a concentrate of strong emotions, at times twilight, where heady rhythms coexist, the energy of hypnotic dances and the tenderness of eternal lullabies.
«I am a Sicilian woman, I don't belong to no church...» from the lyrics of the song ABBALLATI (DANCE!).
Bio notes: born in the mountains in the heart of Sicily, Gera Bertolone is a complete artist: singer, composer, arranger and producer. She is also a virtuoso clarinetist. She has lived in Paris since 2009. She grows up like a nonconformist child - mostly resistant to authority and established rules. She was passionate about wilderness and solitude. At the age of 7, she made the decision on her own to learn how to play the clarinet on her own. As a teen, she played in various bands. She quickly developed a very personal musicality. «La Sicilienne», her first album as a singer was released in 2015. The modern arrangements and the quality of his personal interpretations have made his trademark: «She is an extraordinary artist... this Sicilian Kate Bush enchants us with her vocal talent and very rich arrangements that have the quality to bring us closer to an unknown language...» - Alessandra Prospero / Deliri Progressivi
“It's a remarkable album featuring the extraordinary expressive characteristics of Gera Bertolone’s voice.” - Angelo Romero/ World music central USA
During her studies in musicology and ethnomusicology at the universities of Palermo and Paris, she has deepened her research on the repertoire of Sicilian singing. In parallel, she begins a work of transcriptions and adaptations for clarinet of classical Sicilian instrumental repertoires. This is the origin of the show «A flight to Sicily». «A fascinating journey to the discovery of a luminous music.» - La Tribune
