| An Italian tenor in the tradition of the enormously popular Andrea Bocelli, Alessandro Safina has long been admired and championed in the Netherlands, though he's made light of by his native country. Now, with his American major label debut, a self-titled collection, Safina soars into the popera limelight, his darkly sensual vocals powerful, assured, and flat-out sexy. Melodically affecting in a manner oddly parallel to that of the Eminem/Dido vocal juxtaposition on "Stan," Safina opens with "Only You (Luna)," wherein his masculine posturing is underscored and buffeted by an angelic female vocal refrain until the song fairly bursts like showers of fireworks in an open canvas of sky. Starting with the bar quite high, Safina's pipes nonetheless maintain the emotional posture of the record throughout, positing the singer as dream tenor of the year. --Paige La Grone |
