Mara Sattei: New Album, Sanremo & Finding Strength in Vulnerability

Mara Sattei is returning to the Sanremo Festival with a newfound sense of self-awareness, and, crucially, without filters. Following her debut in 2023 with “Duemilaminuti,” penned by Damiano David, she’s bringing a song entirely of her own creation – “le cose che non sai di me” – to the stage, mirroring the intimate and personal nature of her new album, CHE ME NE FACCIO DEL TEMPO, already available digitally and set for physical release on February 27th.

“My victory is already this: to arrive on the biggest stage in Italy with my music,” Sattei reflects. “For me, it’s a huge honor, and then the music will take its course.” This year’s Sanremo feels like a fresh start. “It is,” she confirms, “because I’m approaching it as a songwriter and author of the song. I’m going with my words, my emotions. I’m opening up to the large audience that perhaps still doesn’t know me from this perspective.”

“le cose che non sai di me” is a deeply personal dedication, a love song to her partner and guitarist, Alessandro Donadei. “It’s an autobiographical song dedicated to my boyfriend, a declaration of love,” Sattei explains. “It’s very sweet, but also very true and sincere. I’m recounting the beginning of our story. We met on stage, because he’s the guitarist on my tour. I was the one who confessed my feelings first, and everything started from there. We started getting to know each other as Sara and Alessandro, not just as singer and guitarist. The song talks about the things we didn’t know about each other as people.” The story began in Rome, where she frequently traveled from Milan to see him, a city that features prominently in the song’s imagery.

The release of CHE ME NE FACCIO DEL TEMPO precedes her participation in the 76th edition of the Sanremo Festival, marking a significant moment in her artistic evolution and solidifying her position as a prominent and versatile figure in contemporary Italian music. The album, she explains, is about the value of time – not as a pressure, but as a presence. “The album arrives four years after my last studio work and includes important collaborations, including one with my brother Thasup and Elisa,” she notes.

Sattei describes a period of introspection and healing that informed the album’s creation. “If life sometimes stumbles and shatters like ceramics after losing its balance, trying to repair it with gold dust, as in the ancient art of Kintsugi, is the most complex and wonderful gift someone can give themselves,” she says, drawing a parallel between the artistic process and personal recovery. She found herself at Abbey Road, during a difficult time, and the resulting song, “Abbey Road,” became a cornerstone of the album.

The album’s creation wasn’t without its anxieties. “At first I was afraid: if you’re not there, you don’t exist,” she admits. “But then I told myself something very simple: I would make music anyway, even if it wasn’t my job. What makes me happy is writing beautiful songs that I like first. Taking this time was fundamental to telling who I really am.”

Sattei emphasizes the importance of accepting vulnerability. “We live in a society that seems to not allow us to say ‘today I feel bad.’ But it’s okay to be sad,” she states. “I think it’s important to accept sadness, to feel it. We are a bit emotionally numb, and it’s good to listen to a song and feel that it has stirred something.”

The album features collaborations with Noemi, thasup, and Mecna, with Mecna joining Sattei on stage at Sanremo for a cover of Carmen Consoli’s “L’ultimo bacio” on February 27th.

When asked about her stylistic evolution, Sattei describes the album as more cantautorale – more focused on songwriting – than her previous work. “I felt the need to put the words, the writing, at the center and to build a more intimate sound world,” she explains. “It’s an album that comes from a real emotional urgency.”

Family also plays a central role in her art, evidenced by the song “Mamma.” “For me, family has always been a fixed point, even in times of distance,” she says. “’Mamma’ is a song that talks about guilt, because I live far from her, about missing her, about unconditional love.”

Sattei acknowledges the changing landscape of the music industry, noting the increased speed and accessibility of music, but also the anxieties surrounding performance and numbers. “Music has become more accessible, more immediate, but also faster in its consumption,” she observes. “There’s an obsession with numbers. Sometimes music is seen more as a product than as an art.”

Looking ahead, Sattei is focused on finding the right image to accompany the new project, a process still underway as of mid-January. She also reflects on her relationship with her body, describing it as a continuous journey of acceptance. “Being exposed, photographed, on video, amplifies everything,” she says. “There are things about me that I don’t like, but that’s part of life and accepting them is work on oneself.”

Sattei has found a sense of peace with time itself. “I’ve learned not to treat it as an enemy,” she concludes. “I used to feel like it was separating me from others, like I was falling behind. But I realized it’s a necessary space to understand who you are and what you want. Without that time, I wouldn’t have arrived at this album. Time, is about being more honest with yourself.”