How Daniela Pes uses her Italian dialect to make nonsensical music
Daniela Pes, 32, was born in Sardinia, Italy. Growing up in Tempio Pausania, she is fluent in both standard Italian and her Gallurian region's dialect, Gallurese.
On her debut album, 2023's 'SPIRA', Pes sings in a combination of Italian and Gallurese. She effortlessly moves between them combining idiomatic phrases with word jumbles, choosing lyrics for their sonic satiny feel, over logical semantic placement.
'I never wanted to sing just in English, Italian or my dialect,' Pes tells me. 'My biggest dream has always been to write music that could be as universal as possible, to go out the borders and to reach the furthest horizon.'
Without worrying about literal meanings or audiences understanding her on a syntactical level, Pes is able to move more freely within expression. 'I found a way to feel free on the stage, feel free in my writing.'
'I am now able to speak and to communicate to English people, Chinese people, Japanese people, French people, all at the same frequency, because the lyrics don't actually mean anything. Everything is wrong!'
Everything is not wrong though when you listen to Pes. On record, her soft singing voice feels lullaby-like as it calmly ushers you into the myriad swirling synth rhythms. 'Carme' is a classic example of her style, slowly building from a gentle refrain until it bursts with Pes' crackling tones and the music carries you away into a greater spiritual plain.
Live, it's an even more transformative experience. Pes' voice is enthralling. As she toys with a complex synth setup, flanked by two more musicians doing the same, the effect is hypnotising. The room draws back and all is left is this forceful Italian dialect connecting you through a sound that feels more evolving than a planned playlist.
The reason for this free-form style is Pes' background in jazz. From a musical household – her father is a musician, her brothers play piano and drums – Pes fondly remembers recording songs with her family. Graduating from Luigi Canepa Conservatory of Sassari with a degree in jazz singing, Pes spent 10 years immersed in the jazz world.
That didn't stop her broadening her horizons. 'I've always loved instrumental music: Israeli music, Arabian music, Armenian musicians, all that music that can use the voice like an instrument.'
Jazz also taught Pes how to improvise vocally. In her performances, while the structure is taken from the tracks she's released, much like a jazz group performing a standard, there are the opportunities for her and her band to vamp. On a track like 'Ille Sera', this might come at the cacophonous finale, or in 'Làira' it might be in the chanted sections that sound sampled from a snake charmer.
'It's not straightforward traditional jazz, but it's the idea of jazz. It's the idea of that freedom,' Pes explains of her live shows. 'You can go any way you want with your voice without necessarily saying anything that makes sense.'
Even without understanding it, Pes' haunting voice and captivating stage presence connect with audiences deeply. On stage earlier this year at ESNS – where she was nominated for an MME Award – the international crowd was blown away. Everyone shared in the music's timelessness melancholy that brings forth spiritual images of pastoral ghost stories.
While Pes' music is immaculately produced on her album, it's this approach to free performance that makes her consider herself a stage musician. 'I really like staying in the studio and writing, listening, imagining visions. But when I get onto the stage, that's the moment where I can find myself,' she says.
Yet a long time on tour still takes its toll. Her record is 130 concerts in a year. Now, with a European tour largely behind her – she still has festival dates including the Netherlands' Best Kept Secret – it's time to hit the studios and get recording again. 'I didn't get the chance till now to be in my home studio, my peaceful place, to start writing again.' 'I really feel the need now, and I can't wait,' Pes says.
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France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Hundreds of deepfake music videos are celebrating the resident of Burkina Faso… why?
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The song goes on to refer to the Islamist insurrection affecting both Burkina Faso and other countries in the Sahel: Jihadist storms have raged too long Displacing hearts and homes Oh Lord, we need your justice now In these blood-stained zones. Later on in the music video, Rihanna appears, calling for "five more years of soldier's rule', thus showing her support for keeping Ibrahim Traoré and his military junta in power. Hundreds of comments in English appear below the music video that supposedly shows R. Kelly and Rihanna, most featuring glowing messages of support for Traoré. They were written by social media users who say they are from English-speaking African nations including Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Malawi. It is impossible to say if these messages were published by social media users or if they are part of the disinformation campaign. In total, our team counted at least fifteen different versions of 'God Protect Ibrahim Traoré' on Youtube, all in English, and all featuring deepfake celebrities singing odes to the Burkina Faso president. AI created music videos However, all of the many versions of 'God Protect Ibrahim Traoré' are deepfakes. They are poor quality, not very realistic -- in fact, they all look like video games. Aside from that, there are other clues that they were AI-generated. The face of one man in the crowd is deformed. The banner featuring Traoré's name has illegible letters on it -- AI still struggles to create legible text on a photo. If you look at these videos on YouTube, they are actually described as 'altered or synthetic content', which means AI-generated. But even though these music videos are clearly false, a number of English-speaking influencers have fallen for them and continue to share them. Nancy Blaq, a Ghanaian influencer with 2.7 million followers, shared the version 'sung' by Beyoncé on Facebook. 'During her sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden last night, the global superstar paused between her chart-topping hits to deliver a message that left the audience in awe: 'God protect Ibrahim Traoré, protect Burkina Faso'', the influencer wrote in a post from May 10. The video was also shared on May 4 by a Facebook page said to be the Russian television channel Rossiya 1 Afrique. Pro-Traoré content has also been shared by social media users who support the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), which includes Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso. "Viva Ibrahim Traoré, Viva the Burkinabé army, Viva the AES army," wrote one pro-AES Facebook user in French along with the Beyoncé music video. 294 fake music videos shared by 127 YouTube channels Our team set out to determine just how widely these fake clips had been shared. 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'It's clear that this is a coordinated campaign' 'It's clear that this is a coordinated campaign,' says Samba Dialimpa Badji, a researcher in disinformation and fact-checking at the University of Oslomet in Norway. 'Even if we don't have the elements to prove that Burkina Faso's government is behind this communication campaign, they are certainly benefiting from it.' The Burkina Faso government does not have a history of using AI to create fake videos en masse. "What we've observed up until now is that they mostly relied on influencers on social media -- WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter -- who posted content glorifying Ibrahim Traoré or showing their support for the military junta in power in Burkina Faso. AI makes it possible to create fake content very rapidly, easily and in large quantity,' Dialimpa Badji added. 'There is no sign that real people are behind these posts,' says the researcher. 'It could be that the accounts sharing this content were also AI-created. One single person could easily do that: create different accounts on different social media platforms and create content in an automated way,' Dialimpa Badji said. Music videos made in Nigeria Our team was able to make contact with the person behind the YouTube channel where a clip called 'God Protect Ibrahim Traoré by R. Kelly" garnered more than 1.9 million views. The person claims to be the creator of this video, which checks with the date the video was created. The YouTuber, who is based in Nigeria, says he is an artist who specialises in using AI to create music videos. He said that he charges about $1,000 (€881) for each music video. He said that using AI to make videos honouring the president of Burkina Faso started out as a personal project. 'My motivation was that Ibrahim Traoré does what many African leaders don't do,' he said. 'I admire him a lot.' 'When people saw that these videos were going viral on my channel, they started asking me to make the same kind of video for them,' he said. 'So that's when I started charging for creating the music videos and promoting them.' The creator said that he was actually behind most of the popular music videos celebrating Ibrahim Traoré on YouTube and TikTok. We weren't able to verify this claim. He also did not respond to our questions about the identity of his sponsors. "The people behind this campaign probably looked for people who had the skills to create AI-generated content [like in Nigeria] where you can easily find someone to carry out this service,' Dialimpa Badji said. Was the publication of these music videos coordinated with Burkina Faso's government? Why was there a sudden explosion of pro-Traoré music videos in May? 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The posting of these fake music videos seems coordinated with the communication campaign meant to promote Traoré's image, said Mathieu Pellerin, an analyst specialist in the Sahel region with International Crisis Group: 'Since taking office, President Traoré has been using direct references to Thomas Sankara, which give him an air of legitimacy, considering the Burkina Faso population's adoration for Sankara". Thomas Sankara was the revolutionary president of Burkina Faso who was assassinated in 1987. Even today, Sankara is an anti-colonial, pan-Africanist icon in Africa. "This aligns perfectly with the ideas that Traoré wants to represent for his country and beyond: popular uprising, a rupture with colonialism and imperialism in favour of sovereignty, both for Burkina Faso and in a pan-African sense. These are also the messages transmitted by this AI campaign, which is amplifying his message outside of Burkina Faso.' Videos aimed at an English-speaking public Most of these fake music videos promoting Ibrahim Traoré feature singers from the English-speaking world. This isn't by chance. According to the BBC, the users posting most content on X in support of Ibrahim Traoré are from the English-speaking world, including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and the United States. 'We've noticed that these posts are especially going viral in English-speaking countries. So I think that means that these countries have been targeted, probably in an attempt to break out of the straightjacket of the French-speaking world,' says Dialimpa Badji, 'They have probably concluded that in the French-speaking world, particularly in West Africa, a percentage of the public will already know about Traoré. And so perhaps that populations won't be as easy to manipulate with this type of content, because they know a bit already about the situation in the Sahel, in Burkina Faso, in Niger… where there is already a sort of defiance against those in power." 'This propaganda is probably meant to mask the failure of Traoré's security policies and to promote his political position both nationally and internationally, to reduce the chance that he might end up diplomatically isolated,' Pellerin says. 'He's had undeniable success with the latter, considering his popularity within the region and internationally. But I don't think that it is quite the same internally. Even though the president has a base of popular support, it seems like that has been eroding, considering the fact that the regime hasn't been able to restore security in the country. Not to mention the fact that increasing numbers of civilians have been arrested.' In recent weeks, Burkina Faso has suffered several setbacks in its fight against jihadists with JNIM, a terrorist group linked to Al Qaeda. 'Considering the success of this campaign, it wouldn't be surprising if other countries start using the same technique -- like Mali, for example, where disinformation is already rampant,' Dialimpa Badji said.
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Euronews
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Italy's countryside is peppered with villages rich in architectural marvels, gastronomic delights and arcane cultural traditions. Each year, these little-known treasures compete for national recognition through 'Borgo dei Borghi' (Village of Villages), a beloved television contest that has become a cultural phenomenon. Organised by RAI, Italy's national public broadcasting company, the annual competition is broadcast in weekly episodes that turn the spotlight on each of the 20 selected villages. The programme has become a form of travel inspiration as it recounts legends, curiosities and rituals that make each village one-of-a-kind. Here are this year's winners - chosen by viewers and an expert jury of historians and tourism professionals - and why you should add them to your next Italy trip itinerary. Lying on the northern slopes of the Iblei Mountains, winner Militello in Val di Catania is an exemplar of Sicilian baroque artistry and urban planning. The village of just under 7,000 inhabitants is included in UNESCO's designation of late Baroque towns of the Val di Noto. Following the devastating earthquake of 1693 that destroyed much of southeastern Sicily, Militello was rebuilt according to the baroque aesthetic principles of the era, resulting in an urban landscape that feels like an open-air museum of 18th-century design. The village is home to more than 20 churches with elaborate stone facades crowded with cherubs, saints, and intricate floral motifs. Militello is also home to numerous aristocratic villas and palaces that once housed the noble families who shaped the village's development. The village's cultural life is also abundant, with saints' day festivals involving processions, traditional music performances, and communal meals. Militello's victory marks Sicily's fifth triumph in the Borgo dei Borghi competition, following previous wins by Gangi, Montalbano Elicona, Sambuca di Sicilia, and Petralia Soprana. Heading up to the northern province of Turin, runner-up Agliè is characterised by both aristocratic grandeur and quotidian village life. The centrepiece is the Castello di Agliè, a palatial complex that forms part of UNESCO's Savoy Residences designation. The magnificent structure of imposing facades, elaborate gardens, and richly decorated interiors served as one of the primary residences of the House of Savoy, the royal family that ruled the Kingdom of Sardinia and later the unified Kingdom of Italy. The castle forms the heart of the village, surrounded by historic piazzas that are still the setting for weekly markets, seasonal festivals, and daily social interactions. The village gained additional fame as the primary filming location for 'Elisa di Rivombrosa', a popular Italian historical drama series. Third spot went to Vignanello, which exemplifies the sophisticated architectural and agricultural traditions of northern Lazio. The village's claim to fame rests primarily on the Castello Ruspoli, a Renaissance masterpiece whose gardens represent some of the finest examples of Italian landscape design from the 16th and 17th centuries. Vignanello is also renowned for its time-honoured winemaking traditions. The volcanic soils of the region, enriched by centuries of natural mineral deposits, provide ideal conditions for viticulture. The annual grape harvest festival is a grand celebration for the village, featuring wine tastings and food pairings as well as historical reenactments. High in the mountains of Calabria, Aieta lies in the untamed wilderness of the Pollino National Park. At over 500 metres of elevation, the medieval village commands lofty views over the Tyrrhenian Sea - its name is appropriately derived from the Greek word for eagle. Aieta's medieval character remains remarkably intact, with narrow stone streets winding between houses built from local stone. The village's 16th-century Renaissance palace stands as a testament to the wealth and cultural sophistication that even small mountain communities could achieve during Italy's golden age of art and architecture. The location within Pollino National Park makes Aieta an ideal base for exploring its ancient forests, deep gorges carved by rushing streams, and mountain peaks that provide habitat for rare wildlife, including wolves, eagles, and endemic plants. While the Amalfi Coast attracts millions of visitors annually to its famous destinations like Positano and Amalfi, Maiori offers a more tranquil alternative. The village has an expansive beach, unusual along a coastline typically characterised by small coves and dramatic cliffs. Behind the sweep of sand rise the village's colourful buildings and lemon groves that climb the steep hillsides threaded through with hiking routes. Visit the Abbey of Santa Maria de Olearia, a remarkable religious complex carved directly into the coastal rock face. Inside are frescoed chapels and meditation spaces hewn directly from the cliff. Maiori's lemon groves represent not just agricultural activity but a cultural tradition that has shaped the landscape and economy of the Amalfi Coast for centuries. These terraced gardens, supported by stone walls built without mortar, are an extraordinary example of sustainable agriculture that maximises productivity while preserving the natural beauty of the steep coastal terrain.
