On his sophomore album ‘Rovine’, Milan-based singer-songwriter Tulegon draws together lyrics written across more than two decades, transforming childhood recollections, changing cities, relationships and questions of destiny into a deeply personal portrait of a life still being understood.
Its title, translating as “ruins,” immediately establishes the record’s central tension. Ruins are evidence of loss, but they are also proof that something once existed. They preserve outlines, foundations and fragments long after their original purpose has faded. Tulegon approaches memory in much the same way, returning to formative experiences to understand what remains.
The album moves through different stages of Tulegon’s life, tracing a geographical path from his childhood in Ostuni, through his years in Rome, and towards his present home in Milan. Throughout the album, each city represents a different emotional climate, carrying its own relationships, expectations and version of the person who lived there.
The influence of Bob Dylan and Fabrizio De André can be recognised in Tulegon’s commitment to storytelling, symbolism and lyrical ambiguity. Like both writers, he appears interested in songs that can hold several interpretations simultaneously.
The record’s varied stylistic character reflects the long period over which its words were written. A lyric begun in one decade may carry a different emotional temperature from one created years later. But rather than forcing those materials into complete uniformity, ‘Rovine’ appears to preserve some of those contrasts, allowing irony, nostalgia, warmth and melancholy to exist within the same wider framework.
There is also a clear connection between ‘Rovine’ and Tulegon’s earlier concept album ‘Pessoa’. That project explored the fragmented self through multiple languages and the influence of Fernando Pessoa’s heteronyms. While ‘Rovine’ approaches similar questions from a more autobiographical direction. Instead of creating alternative identities, Tulegon examines the different versions of himself produced by time, place and experience.
In all, ‘Rovine’ is a patient and emotionally generous album from an artist willing to let time become part of the composition. Its songs carry the traces of several decades, three cities and countless changes in perspective, yet they are held together by a consistent curiosity about what makes a life meaningful.
