Last night we went to Bologna1 to see La Niña in concert, a birthday present from the kids to Serena. She loves this artist, whom I didn’t really know before last night. The concert was very nice, even though, not knowing her, I was initially confused, I think by the local folk festival atmosphere, if such a thing exists. It took me a few minutes to understand what I was looking at and what I was listening to.

Musically, there’s no doubt that she and all her artists, four women, one man, all on vocals and playing multiple instruments, are talented. They rock a very sensual performance on stage2.

As I was listening I thought: she reminds me of Rosalia and today, I immediately found a review that makes the comparison3, pointing out, however, that while Rosalia started with flamenco and moved towards quality pop, La Niña is doing the opposite, at least for now: her first album was more into high quality pop music, sang in Neapolitan but also with Italian lyrics while her second album dives into folklore and urban themes, packed with potential hits. The same review mentions the second artist who came to mind last night: Daniela Pes from Sardinia, who is certainly less accessible (and, in fact, has a smaller audience).

I’m listening to VANITAS, her first album, as I write. In some respects, it may be even more interesting than FURÈSTA, her second. Listen to them in order, and one can clearly see the path La Niña is on. I find it remarkable that she went all-in on folk music with her second work; an obvious choice intellectually, not so much from a marketing perspective. It paid off, though, as it is her second work that is growing her fanbase. The musical research on FURÈSTA is interesting as it doesn’t stop at the Neapolitan tradition but aims to embrace the whole southern Italy and Mediterranean scene. She is not afraid to dare.

I’m looking at her official videos too, and they are all visually stunning. I think La Niña has every chance of achieving international success. Not impossible, look at Rosalia’s trajectory.

Serena was ecstatic—a lovely evening overall.

  1. DumBO, the event location, was a pleasant discovery. What a remarkable regeneration effort! ↩︎

  2. I was impressed by Alfredo Maddaluno’s skill at doubling with a large number of instruments, both traditional and electronic. La Niña referred to him as “Master” on stage. I understand he’s also her producer and I presume partner. ↩︎

  3. I now read on Wikipedia that at some point Rolling Stone described La Niña as a hybrid of Teresa De Sio and Rosalia. ↩︎