Rolling hills, chequered tablecloths, the saturated hue of an Aperol spritz, and the Leaning Tower: this is what Italy looks like to many non-Italians. Now add some music: chances are, it’s something like the treacly, over-orchestrated Sarà Perché Ti Amo by Ricchi e Poveri. “You have a soundtrack that is always the same: for many people, this is Italy,” indie musician, composer and singer Francesco Wilking tells me over the phone.
Wilking, who grew up in Germany to an Italian mother and a German father, sought a different type of Italian sound – more melodically subdued, less camply sentimental, taking inspiration from the poetry of singer-songwriters such as Lucio Battisti and Fabrizio De André – and set up Crucchi Gang, a band project covering German songs from the 1980s and songs by contemporary German indie bands in Italian. Their self-titled debut came out to critical acclaim in 2020, climbing to No 34 in the German album charts. Its follow up, Fellini, came out earlier this year.
