On (Elisa album)

On is the ninth studio album by Italian singer and songwriter Elisa, released on 25 March 2016 by Sugar Music.^[3] It was produced by Elisa and features collaborations with Jack Savoretti, Emma Marrone and Giuliano Sangiorgi.

On
Studio album by Elisa
Released	25 March 2016 (2016-03-25)
Recorded	2015
Genre	Pop[1][2]
Length	48:58
Language	English Italian
Label	Sugar
Producer	Elisa Curt Schneider Andrea Rigonat Christian Rigano Michele Canova Iorfida
Elisa chronology
L'anima vola (2013) On (2016) Soundtrack '97-'17 (2017)
Singles from On
"No Hero" Released: 15 January 2016 "Love Me Forever" Released: 13 May 2016 "Bruciare per te" Released: 26 August 2016

It debuted at number one on the FIMI Albums Chart, becoming the singer-songwriter's fourth album to top the chart. The album was promoted by three singles, including "No Hero".^[4]

Background and composition

The album marks Elisa's return to writing songs in English, following her 2013 all-Italian album L'anima vola.^[5] The project features thirteen tracks, including a duet with British singer Jack Savoretti and two Italian-language tracks, "Bruciare per te" and the collaboration "Sorrido già" with Emma Marrone and Giuliano Sangiorgi.^[6] Elisa explained the title of the project and the concept behind the album:^[7]

On can be summed up with two adjectives: vital and energetic. [...] For each record project I tend to change direction, I like it and I need it to renew myself, always. I wanted to make music that could convey the strong charge I felt when I was writing. [...] I went along with these impulses because I realised it was the truest thing I could do and that is always my main goal. [...] It is not an intimate record. Rather, it is a disruptive and very physical record that could only be called that for me, because the effect it has on me is exactly that of feeling switched on and connected

Elisa has cited artists such as Daft Punk, Clean Bandit, The Weeknd, Diplo and Skrillex as inspiring artists for her, producing tracks sounding close to pop and electropop.^[8] In an interview with the newspaper Il Giorno, she explained this desire:^[9]

This new experience [being artistic director of Amici di Maria De Filippi] has pushed me to study chart music more than usual and has changed me a bit. I have always been brave in the way I make music, especially in the beginning, but then I was introduced to the world of compromise that is part of 'mainstream' pop. I want to make pop music while retaining my independence and I know it's not an easy challenge today

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
All Music Italia	8/10[10]
Rockol	8/10[11]

On received generally positive reviews from Italian critics, appreciating the Elisa's ability to produce and compose new sounds compared to previous productions, along with her vocal and interpretative abilities.

Mattia Marzi of Rockol gave the album a score of 8 out of 10, describing it as "an album light years away from the singer-songwriter's earlier productions; [...] Pop, but it is pop in the best sense of the term: a nice mix in which all the best facets of the music of the last fifty years coexist". Marzi reported that the songs in their execution "then go off in unexpected directions. Not only at the level of sonority, but also at the level of musical structure". However, the journalist emphasised that one cannot speak of an "artistic turning point", but of a "starting point for a new and interesting phase in Elisa's career".^[11]

Simone Caprioli, reviewing the album for All Music Italia, was pleasantly impressed by the singer-songwriter, who "interprets pop in its best and most intelligent sense, with personality and class", with songs capable of recreating "a perfect and very enjoyable harmony all in crescendo". Caprioli selected "Love Me Forever" and "Waste Your Time on Me" as the best tracks on the album, while "Sorrido già" as the only track that is not completely fulfilled.^[10] Federica Palladini of Elle Italia also reflected on the tracks, describing them as "pills of positivity" and defining the arrangements as "sound explosions", in which she found a message of "an invitation to go forward, to break the mould and not always feel safe following the known path".^[12]

In a less enthusiastic review, Michele Monina of Il Fatto Quotidiano, defined On an "unresolved" project due to its production and musical choices, which "are not always pop, and when they are not pop they work well. When they try to be pop they collapse", comparing the artistic decisions to those of Emma Marrone, Adele, Kate Bush and The Kolors. The journalist referred to the two Italian-language tracks as "horrible, cacophonies of sounds and choruses".^[1]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Bad Habits"	Elisa · Keeley Osborn Bumford	Elisa	3:44
2.	"Rain over My Head"	Elisa · Bumford	Elisa · Andrea Rigonat · Noochie · Victor Indrizzo · Curtis Russell Schneider	3:58
3.	"Love Me Forever"	Elisa	Elisa	3:16
4.	"Love as a Kinda War"	Elisa · Jud Joseph Friedman · Allan Rich	Elisa	3:29
5.	"Hold On for a Minute"	Elisa · Bumford	Elisa	3:08
6.	"Waste Your Time on Me" (featuring Jack Savoretti)	Jack Savoretti · Sebastian Sternberg · Pedro Vito	Savoretti · Sternberg · Vito	3:07
7.	"With the Hurt"	Elisa · Bumford	Elisa · Rigonat · Noochie · Indrizzo · Schneider	4:24
8.	"Catch the Light"	Elisa	Elisa	3:17
9.	"Peter Pan"	Elisa · Bumford	Elisa	3:19
10.	"No Hero"	Elisa · Friedman · Rich	Elisa	4:15
11.	"Ready Now"	Elisa · Bumford	Elisa	3:55
12.	"Bruciare per te"	Elisa	Elisa	4:56
13.	"Sorrido già" (featuring Emma Marrone and Giuliano Sangiorgi)	Elisa	Elisa	4:11
Total length:				48:58

Commercial performance

On debuted at number one on the FIMI Albums Chart, becoming the singer-songwriter's second consecutive album to achieve this result, following L'anima vola (2013), and becoming her fourth album to top the chart, after Soundtrack '96–'06(2006) and Heart (2009).^[13][14]

Charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
Italian Albums (FIMI)[15]	1

Year-end charts

Chart (2016)	Position
Italy (FIMI)[16]	21

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Italy (FIMI)[17]	Platinum	50,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone.

References

1. "Elisa, il nuovo album "On" lo ascolti dieci volte, da solo o in compagnia, ma il risultato non cambia: è un disco brutto. Pop, ma brutto". Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 23 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2020. Si parla reiteratamente di pop. Sottolineando come sia una cosa un po' nuova, per Elisa, il pop. Di una sperimentazione pop (e visto che si parla di pop, di una sperimentazione verso il basso) [...] Sì, perché On è l'album pop di Elisa
2. "Elisa ON: recensione nuovo album". Optimagazine (in Italian). 25 March 2016. Retrieved 7 January 2020. L'avventura pop di Elisa [...] Il nuovo album di Elisa è un concentrato di musica pop
3. "Elisa torna alle origini con l'album 'On'". Agenzia ANSA (in Italian). March 2, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
4. Dello Preite, Gabriele (15 January 2016). "ELlisa: ecco "No Hero", il singolo che apre la nuova era discografica della cantautrice. In arrivo a marzo l'album". All Music Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 29 October 2023.
5. Bolognini, Luigi (March 22, 2016). ""On", Elisa riscopre l'inglese: tredici canzoni e una gran voglia di pop". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
6. Robertini, Giovanni (April 27, 2016). "Elisa si racconta a Rolling Stone a partire da "On", un album più fisico e potente". Rolling Stone Italia (in Italian). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
7. Alicandri, Alessandro (March 22, 2023). "Elisa, ON: l'album raccontato canzone per canzone". TV Sorrisi e Canzoni (in Italian). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
8. "Elisa presenta "On": "Cerco di stare nel mainstream, ma con una testa un po' indie"". Rockol (in Italian). March 22, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
9. Giorno, Il. "Io tra i miei fan aspettando il palcoscenico: Elisa si racconta a Milano - Cultura - ilgiorno.it". Il Giorno (in Italian). Retrieved 2023-07-18.
10. Caprioli (Blogger), Simone (March 30, 2023). "Recensione: ON - Elisa". All Music Italia (in Italian). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
11. Marzi, Mattia (March 23, 2016). "Elisa - ON - la recensione". Rockol (in Italian). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
12. Palladini, Federica (March 23, 2016). "Intervista con Elisa". Elle Italia (in Italian). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
13. Raiola, Francesco (April 6, 2016). "Elisa ancora prima, Loredana Bertè non riesce a scalzare 'On' dalla cima". Fanpage.it (in Italian). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
14. Negri, Piero (April 9, 2016). "Hit parade: ancora Elisa al numero uno, fenomeno Benji & Fede". La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved July 17, 2024.
15. "Italiancharts.com – Elisa – On". Hung Medien.
16. "Classifica annuale 2016 (dal 01.01.2016 al 29.12.2016)". Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
17. "Italian album certifications – Elisa – On" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved 11 April 2016. Select "2016" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Type "On" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Album e Compilation" under "Sezione".