Belgium: Axel Hirsoux fails to convince with Bellissimo

In an attempt to keep himself off the cruise ship a little bit longer, Axel Hirsoux is back with his new single “Bellissimo”, the lead in to his first album, which drops in October. The song is currently only available to buy in Belgium (though Axel’s team are working on more regions), but here’s the teaser that was published on his YouTube page:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcNDeHVkECY

Full Spotify Version — Axel Hirsoux

Unfortunately, having heard the song in full, this one is leaving us feeling a bit more infelice than we’d like…

Perhaps the most obvious issue with “Bellissimo” – and indeed, the whole package – is that it feels so dated. This is particularly odd, as the song is actually a cover of Italian singer Deborah Iurato’s “Anche se fuori è inverno“, which came out earlier this summer and, accordingly, has a current sound. So why does Axel’s take on the song, released just one month later, sound like it was ripped from the 1990s?

The track has obviously undergone some reworking in production, which is part of the problem. Gone are the more obvious guitars and drums, replaced with a string section that does not suit the song, but does bring Axel’s voice into sharper focus. Whilst that obviously plays to Axel’s strengths, it makes you question why he would choose to toy with a song so much when it clearly does not suit him.

It’s a painful attempt to play to a more youthful audience that misses the mark completely. As we saw with his Eurovision entry “Mother“, Axel’s voice sounds a lot more seasoned than he does. Whilst there are ways to play to this, “Bellissimo” lends itself to none of them and instead leaves him over-produced and over reliant on the prolonged notes.

And one more thing: The cover to the single looks like it’s part of a retro poster campaign for the National Lottery. It could be you, Axel…but this time, we don’t think that you’ve picked a lucky number.

Rating: 1/5