ALBUM REVIEW | Damiano David – FUNNY little FEARS

Released on May 16, 2025, Damiano David‘s solo debut album “FUNNY little FEARS“, is a deeply personal diary that explores fears, insecurities, and the messy beauty of being human across 14 tracks, including featurings with D4vd and Suki Waterhouse and a special Dove Cameron hidden cameo in “Zombie Lady”.

Musically, the album presents a surprising blend of styles: moving away from the explosive rock sound of worldwide phenomenon Måneskin, David and his group of producers (Sammy Witte, John Hill, Labrinth, Jason Evigan, Mark Schick, Connor and Riley McDonough, David Burke, Jackson Rau and Ryan Daly), worked on a project that shifts between electro-pop, acoustic ballads, and soulful power pop. Tracks like “Zombie Lady”, explore dark, synth-heavy elements with an up-tempo rythm while “The Bruise” has more minimalist, acoustic arrangements.

The single leading up to the album’s release “Silverlines,” produced by Labrinth, is a power ballad that builds from a delicate piano into an orchestrical crescendo, capturing the tension between discouragement and hope.

The second single, “Born with a Broken Heart”, has a more radio friendly pop-rock sound and had a global commercial success. It reached number one on Spain’s LOS40 chart and became the most-played song on national radio in Italy, his home country, topping the EarOne chart. The single also reached the Top 10 in several European countries, including France and Poland, and the Top 20 in the United States and Canada. The track, which has amassed over 113 million streams on Spotify alone for far, also had recognition from iHeartRadio, which named the Måneskin frontman an “On The Verge” artist.

Second to last single “Next Summer” is a stripped-down acoustic ballad that feels like a whispered confession. Set in an Italian prison, the music video for the song, directed by YOUNUTS, is prefaced with the sentence “Every man is his own jailer,” pushing listeners to reflect on the way one easily becomes prisoner to themselves, their fears and their insecurities.

The album also explores latin-pop rhythms with “Tango”, pop sounds with “Voices” and grunge-inspired rock in “Perfect Life” and “The First Time” highlighting David’s vocal flexibility. The album ends with the deep, acoustic “Solitude (No one understands me)” a final, unfiltered confession.

Funny Little Fears is more than a musical experiment; it’s a bold artistic affirmation. Embracing a more vulnerable and reflective status, Damiano David proves his versatility as an artist and establishes himself as a powerful solo voice capable of creating deeply personal, emotionally music.

With Funny Little Fears, the artist invites listeners to join him on a journey of introspection, resilience, and transformation.

Starting this June in Seoul, South Korea, David will embark on his first headlining tour, a tour that will grant his audience the opportunity to experience this new chapter of his career with him. The 42-date tour, which is almost sold out already, includes 14 dates across North America, with appearances at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, TN and at Lollapalooza in Chicago, IL this summer.