Credits: Omar Andrés León Torres (Valparaíso, Chile) — via Flickr / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
At 82, Italian-Belgian singer-songwriter Salvatore Adamo makes a discographic comeback with a double album of 25 tracks, released on November 14, 2025. Conceived in Paris after vocal rehabilitation following a bout of aphonia in Chile in 2022. The project draws on childhood and the passage of time. The artist says he wants to keep going as long as his voice holds up, while considering a farewell in Japan.
A Morning Ritual To Tame The Voice
Every dawn, Salvatore Adamo adjusts his breathing. A few scales, a murmur, then the sustained note that reassures him. The Italian-Belgian singer-songwriter (born in 1943) has never listened so closely to his instrument: the voice. At 82, he returns to recording with “Des nèfles et des groseilles.” This project is a double album of 25 tracks released on November 14, 2025. The work took shape to the rhythm of convalescence and rehabilitation. That process led him to reinvent his relationship with singing, without denying the romantic impulse that made his name.
“As long as the voice is there, I’ll make the most of it.” The line now runs like a motto on the cover of this seasonal album. It brings together childhood, memory, and the sense that time is running out.
What The Album Tells
The project blends new songs, half-whispered confessions, and impressionistic portraits. You hear the pull of childhood, nostalgia, and the calm awareness of time passing. The song “Ma belle jeunesse” opens the album. The title is a tender dialogue with what is receding. It is an address to the vitality of the past that has not quite disappeared. The tone remains that of a craftsman of words, attached to clear language and melodies that hold by their very clarity.
Across the tracks, Adamo allows himself restraint: memories of exile, beloved silhouettes, seasons piled up. The form, meanwhile, stays classic: clean verses, broad choruses, arrangements on a human scale. The voice, more velvety, settles half a tone lower; it never strains, it tells a story.
A Trial: Six Months Without A Voice
The album was born from a serious warning sign. In 2022, while performing in South America, the singer was exposed to tear gas in Chile. The next day, not a sound: aphonia. This was followed by several months of silence and demanding vocal rehabilitation. From that scare, Adamo drew a lesson: put the voice back at the center and treat it with care.
This refocusing also fits into a broader health setback: at the end of 2023, pulmonary edema forced him to interrupt his tour; he returned to the stage in spring 2024, cautiously, and resumed writing. The double album then emerged as an artistic response to the ordeal: 25 songs strung together, like assembling a herbarium of seasons he refuses to lose.
“Take It Easier,” Without Giving Up
On air and in the press, the artist repeats it: he intends to keep going as long as his voice holds up, without stubbornly pushing it. He expresses his fear of “making the album too many” and accepts a measure of lucidity. Still, he claims the joy of working: writing and refining in the studio. He looks for the right inflection and lets experience guide the phrasing.
In that dynamic, promotion is only an add-on: a few stops on public-service TV (including C à vous and Télématin) and a visit to product pages at distributors—just long enough to mark the release and remind people of the project’s singularity.
A Japanese Thread For Possible Farewells
Since the 1960s, Japan has remained steadfastly loyal to Adamo. The artist says he is considering the idea of a farewell tour in the Land of the Rising Sun, without ruling out continuing elsewhere. However, he says that this plan will depend on his voice, adding “if the voice holds.” The idea does not sound like an announcement, but rather a reasonable scenario, under study. He understands the toll of the miles, the fatigue, and the demands of the audience.
The Adamo Workshop: A Family, Microphones, A Studio
Adamo loves workshop-style creation. Fragments are jotted in a notebook or recorded on a smartphone, then tried out at the piano. After that, studio sessions let the ideas take shape. The album carries this craft patina: care for the lyrics, understated arrangements, attention to breath—right down to the inclusion of close voices that underscore the idea of passing something on.
A Shared Memory, Rekindled
The singer does not stop at a self-portrait. He rekindles a shared memory: dance halls, family singalongs, long journeys. Between the lines, the album evokes “a world before social media,” one made of real presences, letters, and waiting. This взгляд is not a complaint: it is a call to pay attention to the present, an art of inhabiting age without denying momentum.
Reception And Horizons
Early listens point to the album’s overall coherence, the balance between restraint and energy, and the absence of grandstanding. On stage, the artist says he still has “a touch of madness,” and these new songs should sit alongside the classics. In that way, they will enrich the existing repertoire. The desire is there, he assures us, but so is measure: one concert yes, then rest.
Writing On A Human Scale
This release confirms a poetics without special effects. Adamo seeks neither disruption nor showmanship: he aims for the right word, the quiet image, and the rhythm that lets the sentence breathe. The music follows that choice: guitars, piano, woodwinds, a few strings, a drum kit that brushes rather than pounds. Emotion surfaces by capillary action, without forced crescendos. You can sense an economy of gesture: every breath counts, every attack is weighed, and you can imagine the discipline of a well-protected voice after the ordeal.
Where Does This Album Sit In Salvatore Adamo’s Discography?
Across a career that began more than six decades ago, “Des nèfles et des groseilles” reads as a bridge album. It connects the young sixties singer—the one behind “La nuit,” “Tombe la neige,” and “Mes mains sur tes hanches”—to the artist of today who is still composing and knows he is awaited. The themes are not new, but they gain density. Indeed, family exile and the loyalty of audiences stand out. They show up in France, Belgium, and Japan. In addition, yesterday’s letters become today’s messages. Nothing ceremonial here: it is a living album, seeking the present.
TV And Radio: A Voice Rediscovered
The release week sees Adamo reconnect with public-service TV (C à vous, Télématin) and radio. The tone remains restrained: he speaks of work, caution, and gratitude. Far from polished storytelling, he sticks to the facts: the incident in Chile, the rehabilitation, the desire to sing as long as the breath answers. The story is stripped down, without pathos, carried by a few direct lines: “take it easier,” “not to make the album too many.”
Timeline (2023-2025)
- October 18, 2023: concert cancellations for health reasons (pulmonary edema).
- May 2024: gradual return to the stage.
- Fall 2025: promotion and announcements around the double album.
- November 14, 2025: official release of “Des nèfles et des groseilles” (25 tracks).
- End of 2025: the artist mentions the possibility of farewells in Japan, under study.
Health Notes: Understanding Aphonia
- Aphonia: total loss of voice, most often temporary, which may follow acute irritation of the respiratory tract (gas, smoke, infections) or vocal overuse.
- Rehabilitation: treatment by a speech therapist; work on breathing, voice placement, and the gradual recovery of tone and stamina.
- Caution: gradual return to singing, hydration, stress management, and rest.
The Album In Figures
- Title: “Des nèfles et des groseilles”.
- Release date: November 14, 2025.
- Format: double album.
- Number of tracks: 25.
- Opening track: “Ma belle jeunesse” (official lyric video).
Career Notes
- First hits: the 1960s (from “Sans toi ma mie” to “Inch’Allah”).
- Multilingual repertoire: Italian, French, Spanish, German, Japanese…
- Loyal audiences: France, Belgium, Japan, Latin America.
A Comeback, A Legacy
Adamo’s longevity comes down to a simple formula: singing true stories well, without forcing it, letting the voice—rediscovered—take center stage. “Des nèfles et des groseilles” is a record of memory more than nostalgia: a living inventory in which what has been is embraced in order to better inhabit what comes next. Nothing like a rushed farewell: rather the age of loyalty—to himself, to others, to the songs that accompany us.