New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Capitol Records released acclaimed singer/songwriter
Matteo Bocelli's debut solo single, aptly entitled "Solo." Over lush orchestral arrangements, delicate piano played by
Matteo himself, and the vivid neons of modern pop production from GRAMMY® winner
Jesse Shaktin, he sings passionately and clearly about lost romance, forging a new path and the void felt when a loved one is just out of reach. "Missing you with every breath I take," he sings. "Wishing you were with me when I wake."
Matteo wrote the song with Fiona Bevan and
Marco Guazzone.
The accompanying video, which was also released today, is rich with symbolism and the natural beauty of the majestic Dolomites mountains, located in northeast Italy. It was directed by Gaetano Morbioli, who also helmed the official video for "Fall On Me," a duet that paired
Matteo with his father, opera legend
Andrea Bocelli.
Matteo Bocelli, who is graduating at the Conservatory of Lucca in Tuscany, says, "Over the past three years, Capitol Records has given me a rare opportunity - to have time, to study, to write new music, to rehearse - and I'm really proud to be able to release this first song."
Much of the world first heard
Matteo on "Fall on Me," the English/Italian song that he co-wrote for the elder Bocelli's acclaimed 2018 album, Sì, which topped the Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums chart. The song, which has amassed nearly 300 million combined global streams, went on to soundtrack Disney's The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. The pair performed "Fall on Me" at Madison
Square Garden and the Hollywood Bowl as well as on numerous television programs, including "Dancing with the Stars," Colbert, "Good Morning America," "Royal Family Variety Performance" and "Strictly Come Dancing." It was a powerful introduction, yet Matteo's musical journey began when he was a child.
By age six, he was learning piano, and at 18 he debuted on stage to sing Verdi at the Rome Colosseum. He's worked his whole life to master his craft. But the melodies that emerge whenever the young man opens his mouth feel real in a way that can't be explained by a classical education. He sings with a purity of expression that seems innate, with charisma and clarity of purpose.