Maneskin frontman announces World Tour with solo debut

A debut solo album “to show myself in a different way and scream about things I hadn’t addressed until now out of fear of exposing myself, of being judged.

“I’ve always hidden behind a sense of protection, but here I wanted to tear it down because now I feel more secure,” says Damiano David, speaking to the press in Rome about Funny Little Fears, his first solo album, apart from Måneskin, set to release worldwide on May 16 via Sony Music Italy / Epic Records, in digital format and as a physical CD and vinyl (two editions), CE Report quotes ANSA.

The album includes fourteen tracks in English (four singles have already been released: Silverlines, Born with a Broken Heart, Next Summer, and Voices. The fifth single, Zombie Lady, will hit radio on May 16). Most songs were co-written by David with a team of songwriters. The album explores many shades of pop, from introspective (Bruise, feat. Suki Waterhouse) to upbeat, along with rock influences (Mars), 1950s vibes (Tangerine, feat. D4vd), and singer-songwriter-style ballads (Solitude).

It’s a new beginning, accompanied by a world tour (including various festivals), with European dates already sold out, including the three in Italy: Milan on October 7, and Rome on October 11 and 12. A short film was also created for the album, shot in the blooming desert of Joshua Tree National Park (previously honored by U2), “where I wrote most of the album and lived with the other songwriters for a week.”

The title Funny Little Fears came at the end, he says, “from the realization that the fears which often blocked my life became something beautiful through which I could connect with others.”

The album became a form of self-analysis: “I felt wrong and like I didn’t know how to read or fix myself.”

“This is a journey into myself. I had a feeling of despair and sadness, of dissatisfaction, and I didn’t know where it came from. I felt lost. The album helped me realize that the cause was the fears I had planted in my head… it was therapeutic for me.”

A key part of that difficult time was “the end of a relationship a year and a half ago—not the one everyone knows about, but a secret one. It shattered my trust in myself and those around me. It felt like that person had taken away my identity.” Romantic relationships, for David, make up “90% of happiness,” and “starting a new relationship (with fellow artist Dove Cameron) helped me overcome my fears.”

The album also explores that journey: from heartbreak to meeting someone new, falling in love (Angel to The First Time, where he sings “the drugs I took never got me higher than the first time we met”), all the way to being in love.

The album’s strong pop sound “comes from wanting to create something different—and also, I’m not trying to steal from home,” he says with a smile.

The hardest part of making a solo album?

“When I had seven or eight songs done, and I asked myself if I could really do this without the band. I had a moment of intense fear—I was afraid I wasn’t enough. But I realized both parts are equally real. This is the part that feels truest right now. But I keep changing. Being in a band gave us a lot of strength, and when we return, I’ll be stronger too, because I now feel like a better artist than before.”

David insists his solo career won’t hurt Måneskin:

“What we’ve created as a band can’t be overshadowed by me or anyone else. It’s unique, rare, beautiful—a magical alignment of planets. Even if we never release another hit, what we’ve made and the bond we share will always remain.”

As for a potential acting debut, given the cinematic style of his videos? “I don’t have any big ambitions—we’re not sending emails to directors. But if someone came to me with an idea that needed me, I’d consider it. I’m always interested in doing new, different things.”