Carters’ cries, lullabies and tales of errant crocodiles: Lero Lero and the battle for Sicily’s soul

Italy’s south has long been either romanticised or patronised. A Palermo collective has dived into historic archives to recover surreal rhymes and surprising songs that defy the island’s picture-postcard image ‘What do I do now that I no longer have my mother?” Lero Lero sing on Com’haiu a Fari, the opening track of their self-titled debut album. “If I still had my mother, I would not love you.” What may sound like the kind of honest self-reckoning a modern songwriter has dragged out of thera...

By Megan Iacobini de Fazio