I guess “the Land of Opportunity” is still an apt nickname for the United States, though with every passing year about a dozen asterisks get tacked onto that optimistic phrase—particularly for those who’ve uprooted their lives in other countries for the greener pastures promised by our nation. We spoke with Uruguayan musician Juan Wauters about the tedious, inhumane, and seemingly endless process of citizenship a few years ago, and now Philadelphia-by-way-of-Italy songwriter Santa Chiara is staring down a similar prospect, as documented on Imported, her first English-language LP set to arrive October 20 via Kill Rock Stars.
“A lot of [the songs] were written while I was moving across the world from my country, Italy, to the US—precisely to Nashville,” she shares of the collection, which she co-produced and which feature contributions from husband Ron Gallo, Eric Slick, and others. “They’re pictures I put in music and words, feelings, and memories I wanted to transform into art.”
The first picture to arrive from the collection is the feisty “Visa,” a track which angstily tackles exactly what you might expect it to. “There’s quite a few ways to get into the US and none of them include kindness and understanding,” D’Anzieri shares. “My immigration process started five years ago, applying for a K-1 visa. Incriminating and discriminatory, stressful and tiring until the end. Even when you obtain the stamp to be enough it might not be enough, and every 10 years you’ll have to prove yourself good again..”
The track channels that uniquely American rage into a simmering 80 seconds of experimental garage-pop recalling the early-’10s output of groups like Vivian Girls and Dum Dum Girls. The music video for the track—co-directed by Chiara and Gallo—is all European, though, with references to French New Wave editing techniques and neorealist Italian black-and-white landscapes. Check it out below, and pre-order Imported here.
