By now, you’ve probably heard a Måneskin song, even if you didn’t know it. You might not have even heard of them or know their story, but they’ve been blowing up in Europe and on the internet for the past few months now.
Image courtesy of Nicolo Salvatori via NME
Though they’ve been around since 2016, Måneskin has been reaching a lot of international success recently through TikTok virality and their historic Eurovision win in May of this year, which came hot on the heels of their hugely successful sophomore studio album Teatro d’ira: Vol. I, in March.
Måneskin was designated to represent Italy in the Eurovision Song Contest for 2021 after the band won the Sanremo Music Festival on March 6, 2021. That in and of itself being a surprising feat for a rock band, considering the genres decline in popularity, when Måneskin won Eurovision the following May, they were the first band to win that competition with a rock song since 2006.
These two wins back after back, with the release of Teatro d’ira: Vol. I in between, garnered a lot of attention for Måneskin this year. After the Eurovision contest, the album and its singles “Zitti e buoni,” “I Wanna Be Your Slave,” and “Coraline,” all started charting in Europe and around the world, with the first two cracking the top ten on Billboard’s Global 200 Excl. U.S. chart. Måneskin also became the first Italian band to reach the UK top ten charts this year.
But Måneskin’s breakthrough success in Italy came in 2017 when they appeared on X Factor Italia and performed a handful of covers, including a gritty, high energy version of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ “Beggin,’” which to this day remains their most played song on Spotify with 177.4 million plays. The song swaps the Four Seasons’ rhythmic piano chords for an over driven guitar and crashing drums, giving the song some punch while lead singer Damiano David brings his unique growling voice to the Frankie Valli vocal line.
Image courtesy of Billboard
Since then, the band developed their style while living in London, and with this most recent release, they’ve leaned into the harder elements of the music they draw from in their sound. Citing artists like Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Franz Ferdinand, the Rolling Stones, Harry Styles, and even the Red Hot Chili Peppers as stylistic influences, the group’s presentation is much more raw on Teatro d’ira: Vol. I, as can be seen on tracks like “Zitti e buoni” and “I Wanna Be Your Slave.” The guitar oriented songwriting shines through with crunchy distortion, bringing an old school hard rock revivalism to their music, as seen with such contemporaries as Palaye Royale and Greta Van Fleet.
“Zitti e buoni,” “I Wanna Be Your Slave,” and their cover of “Beggin’” have all become favourites on alternative TikTok, even bursting into the mainstream on the app. Each of the songs have hundreds of thousands of videos made on the app, further cementing Måneskin as a modern rock mainstay.