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Back in 2021 these pages hailed an introduction to Giulia Millanta's music: 'an imaginative and stimulating album'. Forward three years and this Austin-based artist has built upon a lofty assertion by spinning their wares in a parallel world. Millanta has chosen a bi-lingual route for the first time unveiling a sumptuous take on purring vocally through her Italian first language. The native tongue intermingles with English along a celestial landscape brimming with evocative sounds. ONLY LUNA KNOWS is roughly equal split on the linguistic front with the moon providing a constant thread alongside supremely crafted musicianship chiselling an emotive hollow for sultry vocals to blossom.
While a narrow preceptive language horizon is often the case for English speakers, there can be an exotic glint when other tongues come to the fore leaving ample space for the imagination to spark into life. Four tracks are entirely in Italian and you get a sense of the theme in their titles: 'Luna, la Follia', 'Chiar di Luna', 'Luna lo Sa' and 'Mi Chiamava Lulu'. The bi-lingual feature permeates the opening track, where a slowed down spaghetti western feel leads the listener into the world of 'Fatale'. This track beds in after a few plays with layers of different instrumentation accompanying Millanta warming up her musical chops.
The album title track commandeers the middle ground with 'Only Luna Knows' courting smart ears with a deftly delivered song. The writing credits link this solely to Millanta among a few co-writes and alongside a borrowed and re-interpreted piece. The name Gabriel Rhodes jumps out on the credits, known for his work with another Austin legend - his mother Kimmie. One of the tracks used to promote the album is the strongly messaged 'I Dance My Way' leaving a memorable lilt as it fades out. Another pick from the collection is 'Stormy Night in Paradise' with all the trappings cultivated in the production hotbed of Austin, although this particular album was recorded in Tuscany and blends two worlds through its participants and location.
Sources list this as Giulia Millanta's ninth album. The reach began to widen on release number's seven and eight - TOMORROW IS A BIRD (2020) and WOMAN ON THE MOON (2022) - creating a momentum for ONLY LUNA KNOWS to launch from a name becoming increasingly familiar. The direction may be slightly different, but the impact is boosted by a warm cloak of diversity.
