Mahmood has already won the Sanremo festival twice (three, also considering the victory among the Youth) with two appearances under his belt (Soldi in 2019 and Brividi con Blanco in 2022).
Now he returns with Tuta Gold to attempt the hat trick and beat himself.
"But no, this time if I win they'll throw tomatoes at me - he defends himself, half superstitious and shy -.
And then this song is something totally new for me. And I'm very proud of it, whatever the final result will be".
Sanremo is "always a first time and I would go almost every year", but it is also an opportunity to raise awareness of the new path of the 32-year-old Milanese artist who will release the new album Nei letti degli altri on 16 February.
"It took two and a half years to finish it - he says -. Years in which I changed a lot and matured above all on an emotional level and in relationships with people. Before I put up more barriers, I don't know if out of shyness, now I'm trying to be more empathetic. This is my personal journey."
It is no coincidence that he chose the image of the bed, "a safe haven, where we bring those we love, where we are betrayed or cheat. The bed is where I have exorcised many demons, including the fear of not being loved. It is my 360 vision degrees on interpersonal relationships".
An intimate and introspective vision where the personal space of the bed becomes an amplifier of common emotions.
The microcosm made of sheets and pillows becomes the metaphor of a home in which one can take refuge and where one always returns.
Tuta Gold, the nucleus of the album which "fixes different life pictures, connected by my way of telling", is a journey back in time.
"I go back to the past, to what caused suffering, but which also had positive implications because those pains strengthened me. It represents the emotional maturity that this album gave me".
In the text there are references to the bullying he experienced as a teenager ("I don't know if I can help anyone, but I'm as sincere as possible in telling my experience").
And - after Soldi - also to his father, with whom he had a complicated relationship.
“But I can talk about it because I got over it.”
Some feats appear on the album.
from Tedua to Chiello in Paradiso ("it's the first time that I don't sing the chorus in one of my songs") to the French artist Angele in Semper/Jamais.
Returning to Sanremo (many point to him, after the victory with Soldi, as the turning point of the event, "I can't say whether I changed the festival, I only know that since then I started working hard"), on the evening of the covers Mahmood will perform with Come è profound il mare by Lucio Dalla, accompanied by the Tenores of Bitti Remunnu 'e Locu, a historic Sardinian tenor singing group, composed of four solo male voices.
"How deep the sea is one of the most beautiful Italian songs, it describes the sense of freedom par excellence. You cannot fence off the sea. I also feel free artistically: it is the only thing that allows me to do this job without making it a job. And then it makes me happy to bring Sardinia, my mother's homeland, to the Ariston stage."
After Sanremo, Mahmood will bring his music live, first to Europe between April and May ("let's see if they still remember me after Eurovision"), then to Italy with the summer tour starting from 19 July.
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