I was not expecting to like this album so much. Finally a record that is not only about love love love. I am a guy, so I cannot really totally understand how it feels to be a woman, but I think Magia Bianca gave me a glimpse. I will probably listen to this over and over and over.

Cover of Magia Bianca by Francesca Michielin
Cover painted by Danilo Bubani: a woman holding a scale with a dove and a raven.

Favorite song. Una donna non può. “Forse sono pazza / Scontato che mi piaccia / La divinazione come pratica.” Those lines already say everything this album is about, and what I like to hear: something personal, something emotional, and not just love, or the emotions around love. Something about yourself. A masterpiece. It is also a feminist hymn, very vocal about what society does not want women to do. The whole record is a way of telling everyone those assumptions are wrong: what a woman can or cannot do, or should.

Favorite intro. 1484. I am not sure what instrument opens it (probably the harpsichord she has talked about), but it puts me at the court of a king, listening to medieval music, eating roast turkey cooked on an open fire, while jesters sing, dance, and play.

Favorite lyrics. “Servirebbe un incantesimo contro il tecnofeudalesimo,” from Feral Girl. I am not sure what Francesca really wanted to say with that line. I read somewhere that she even thought of calling the album Tecnofeudalesimo. For me it strikes a chord because I am trying to use less technology, mainly to spend less time doomscrolling on the phone. These are the kind of lyrics I find myself humming on the way to work.

Special mention. Litha. The repetitive “Vieni vieni intorno al fuoco / scordati chi eri quando inizia il gioco / vieni vieni intorno al fuoco / mescola anche tu le lacrime all’alloro” makes me feel like a witch jumping around a bonfire, in silky clothes, throwing bay leaves into the fire, under a full moon. This song is very, very evocative.

The only one I cannot vibe with. Weirdly enough, the song that appeals to me the least is Magia bianca, magia nera, the one that gives the album its name. I kind of understand the point of the lyrics, I think: you do not have to sit in the box of what other people call white magic or black magic; you can decide for yourself. Musically, though, it feels less connected to the rest of the album.

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