RECOVERY - EP

Peru-born, Georgia-based singer-songwriter Fabrizio is only 24 years old, but he has the voice—and perspective—of an artist three times his age. Fabrizio sings with a rich baritone that evokes Roy Orbison or, more recently, Orville Peck, and he writes with the unflinching clarity of John Prine or Guy Clark. RECOVERY, his debut EP, is a compact but potent account of his difficult journey from substance addiction—fuelled by his move from his native country to the United States when he was 15 years old, and the ensuing loneliness he felt—to sobriety, something he hopes others battling addiction will pursue for themselves after listening to the project. Fabrizio pulls no punches in how he characterises addiction, made evident from the jump with opening track “The Thing That Takes”, which acknowledges the temptation of escaping pain through substances while plainly addressing the way doing so can ruin your life. Titling a song “Let Being Sober Be Your Cure” makes a strong case on its own, and the song itself employs a groovy, Nick Drake-esque arrangement that adds a touch of drama to Fabrizio’s down-and-out tale. Closer “Before the Soul Goes to Waste” dips into the metaphysical, though Fabrizio grounds the dusky tune in his focus on the kind of real-world, one-step-at-a-time work it takes to stay on the wagon.