“I wanted to give credit to the history of this place somehow,” says Albanese about Monferrato, where he created his forthcoming album, Blackbirds and the Sun of October. “I wanted to make a song that was timeless, that could have been written like 500 years ago. ‘The Prince and the Emperor’ is a reflection of the fact that I was in awe with the heritage of this beautiful area. The history of this place is something very-very special.”