Måneskin (pronounced moon-ay-skin or mahn-ay-skin) is a newly distinguished Italian rock band, with such accolades as a Best New Artist Grammy nomination, Italian X-Factor runner-up, and Eurovision winner. Their raspy cover of “Beggin’” did numbers on TikTok, charted in over 40 countries, and reached number three in the Global 200. Their latest release RUSH! came out in late January and is their first global album, with 15 English songs of the 17 total. The album is an interesting exploration of pop-rock, though it falls short in key areas.
My personal favorite is “Timezone,” which has a great blend of changing tempo, powerful vocals, and raw lyrics that drive the song’s emotional journey. The lead singles were “Mammamia,” “Supermodel,” “The Loneliest,” and “Gossip.” These five songs represent the core sound of the album, with the many songs in between fading into the background. Indeed, the main criticism of this album is that they seem to plagiarize themselves. An Italian reviewer comments on “the band’s tendency to make their own the styles [sic], clichés and sounds of a rock already heard and made ‘alla Måneskin.’” RUSH!, in essence, is a great pop-rock playlist that tends to repeat itself.” In the dense world of pop-rock, it’s clearly an achievement to have defined your own sound, though it’s harder to continue to innovate.
“Gossip” is an upbeat and snarky tune that features Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, and Måneskin takes influence from many rock bands of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Damiano David, frontman of Måneskin, said “I think that the inspiration we got from Radiohead was to be very focused on creating a very specific world for each song,” which comes through on RUSH! though not always in a positive way; the album doesn’t have an easy flow, and listening on shuffle might be equally as cohesive. The tonal shift from “Kool Kids,” a scream-singing, ironic head-bopper, to “If Not for You,” a power ballad, is jarring, to say the least. The Italian songs are blocked together towards the end of the album, intentionally marking their roots without alienating listeners early on. The structure of the album seems focused on cementing them into pop, likely due to the influence of songwriter/producer Max Martin, credited on five songs, including Supermodel. Martin is responsible for many of the ‘90s and 2000s pop hits, from Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys to Katy Perry and The Weeknd.
Overall, the album is enjoyable to listen to, though in places purposely trite. In the Spotify description of the song “Feel” the band writes, “the words in this song are used exclusively as sound, there’s no meaning intent.” This is a relief as half of the words are “la-la-la-la,” though perhaps it reflects more meaningfully on the larger body of work. It’s in the uncanny valley of self-awareness: the album is bookended by “Gossip” and “Supermodel” which center on the inherent vanity and superficiality of fame. “Timezone” and “The Loneliest” both speak to the breakdown of personal relationships upon entering the macro scale of being known internationally. These themes are juxtaposed by the self-stated filler lyricism that makes up much of the album. It’s hard to treat it as a serious work of art without a coherent theme. In their venture into globalization, their eloquence feels lost in translation.
