Annalisa: “I don’t feel like I’ve arrived at all”

This article is published in number 45 of Vanity Fair on newsstands until November 9, 2021

If it belonged to the circus world, Annalisa it would be a tightrope walker. Oscillating between the energies that go through her body to create something new and the need to be quiet at home to download them is probably the thing she does best, the synthesis of the balance of an artist who, after putting on ” bare “in Nuda10 and having spoken of sisterhood in the individual Eva + Eva, sung together with Rose Villain, this time it goes even further, in a project that spans multiple parts of the world. Is called Family, is the new song by David Guetta – available from 5 November – and sees the voice of Annalisa representing Italy (in the other versions there will be, among others, IZA for Brazil and Jamie for Korea). “As soon as I received the audition of the song in English, I immediately started working on the Italian adaptation: I wrote it in just an hour,” says Annalisa, convinced that, faced with a project of this size, energies multiply. «You put your heart and soul into it. It’s normal”, she adds to the phone from home, in a moment of relaxation after a summer and an autumn in which she almost never stopped.

Family it represents a kind of collective energy.
“It is sensational to see so many countries involved with the emphasis on a multi-ethnic and cultural aspect. It is a big family that I am very happy to be part of ».

Also in Eva + Eva speaks of the importance of closeness. Is union always strength?
«In the artistic field, yes. Those involved in communication always need external ideas. It’s great to cultivate your world and your story, but sometimes looking out can make you understand new things about yourself. I, for example, have a great need ».

Has it always been open to stimuli?
“Yup. Maybe I’m curious and I feel the need to never be the same as myself. I want to broaden my perspectives continuously ».

A gradual opening that, this year, has led it to «denudarsi».
«Getting rid of filters and character paranoia was a great help. The turning point started with Bye Bye and has materialized with Nuda10, in which I made it clear that I don’t need to build anyone a character. I simply bring myself in front of everyone ».

Especially during adolescence, it happens to build an alternative identity to please others. Has this happened to her?
«It happens a little to everyone. You identify models and, somehow, you try to fit into a trend. When you strive to be what you are not, however, people feel it right away, and you don’t live it well. I think everyone has their own way of bringing their artistic universe to the stage. Mine is to have no buildings, to be the same person as I am at home ».

Are the frailties still there?
“I always carry them with me. True liberation is acknowledging that they are there with us and they won’t be leaving anytime soon. When we realize that it is common to everyone, it is very easy for people to see themselves in you. It is there that these weaknesses also become my strength ».

He often spoke of insecurity. Where does it come from?
“When I was a little girl I was much more confident than now. Growing up and opening up to new realities, the securities have collapsed. I do not experience it, however, as a limit: I owe a lot to my insecurity because it allows me to never be calm. It always leads me to compare myself with others to understand the right path to take ».

Who do you compare with?
“I am very democratic. I exploit everyone a little, from management to my parents ».

You said that music makes you feel less alone: ​​how do you deal with loneliness?
“I have an ambivalent relationship with loneliness: sometimes I need it, and other times I feel the need to feel understood and to share a certain type of emotions and experiences”.

How do you react when you don’t feel understood?
“It’s one of the things that scares me the most. Being an artist who makes music to resolve itself, it disturbs me that those who follow me have a partial concept of me. I would like to try to embrace everyone and make me embrace myself for who I really am ».

Is it for this embrace that you reiterated the importance of speaking no longer about women and men, but about people?
“For me the goal is that: not to differentiate, but to talk about talented people who try to achieve their goals without any restraint that involves their sexuality, their tastes and their ethnicity”.

In this sense, what did the sinking of the Zan Bill in the Senate mean?
“The loss of an opportunity. It would have been a first step towards a vision more faithful to the reality we live every day. I hope that, in the future, there is a way to go back to these steps, because we have a great need ».

In Eva + Eva, at one point, he sings: «You can give me everything, but not what I lack». What are you missing?
“I have a long way to go. I don’t feel like I’ve arrived at all, I’m happy with the things I’ve done, but I feel I have to do more ».

Like winning a Sanremo Festival?
“It would be cool, maybe sooner or later it will happen.”

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