Tiziano's usual charm, but missing that spark

Tiziano Ferro has been my favourite Italian/Spanish-language pop/R&B artist since I first discovered him in Spain in 2002. His debut Rosso Relativo was an eye-opening blend of soul, hip-hop rhythms, and R&B, with unique style and tender ballads. Like many Italian pop artists (Eros Ramazzotti, Nek, Laura Pausini), Tiziano records in both Italian and Spanish, resulting in dual albums, although not all tracks are translated. He is comfortable and quite natural with Spanish, and the Spanish versions are on equal footing with the Italian originals. On Nadie Esta Solo, ten of the thirteen tracks are in Spanish, with the others in Italian.

On his third album Nessuno e solo (Nadie está solo), Tiziano returns to soulful ballads, along with nods to 1980s synth (Y Raffaella es mia, Stop! Dimentica, Baciano le Donne). There's less R&B to be found than on his debut Rosso Relativo, and I found the duet with Pepe Aguilar on Mi Credo to be too slow to my liking, but in general Tiziano's embracing of new styles is for the better.

As for the lyrics: hey, call me shallow, but I don't listen to TzN entirely for the lyrics. His soulful delivery, killer backing tracks, and uptempo grooves are the draw for me (he could be singing the phonebook backwards and I'd still buy it).

I feel that Nessuno e solo has built on Tiziano's maturation as a singer/songwriter, but something felt lacking on his third release. TzN is one of the few artists who's escaped the dreaded "sophomore slump": after a stellar debut, I always find subsequent albums lacking (like Dido, Lhasa, and Nelly Furtado's second albums).

I would love to see him come out with an English-language album after his English stint on Xdono (English version) and Universal Prayer with Jamalia on 2004's Olympics album---he has the potential for North American crossover success with his addictive blend of strong ballads, trendy sampling, and Italian-influenced soul and R&B.