Anema e core is a beautiful Neapolitan phrase that literally translates to "soul and heart". It's a deeply romantic and passionate expression, signifying complete devotion and love.
In the context of the song, the singer dedicates "Anema e core" to their beloved, emphasizing a profound and all-encompassing love that goes beyond mere words. It's a classic phrase in Italian culture, especially in Neapolitan music, making it a unique and enticing word to learn.
Serena Brancale brings a joyful, cinematic romance to life in ANEMA E CORE. Right from the start, she decides to live in the moment with "Carpe diem, domani le tue bugie / Non le voglio più ascoltare" [Seize the day, tomorrow I don't want to hear your lies anymore]. She drops you straight into a scene out of vintage Hollywood, imagining a ride through the streets: "Stanotte saremo due stelle del cinema / Italoamericano" [Tonight we'll be two Italian-American cinema stars], demanding a kiss in a convertible taxi that cannot be hidden: "Un bacio che s'ha dda vedé" [A kiss that has to be seen].
What makes this track so playful is how she mixes pop with southern Italian soul and dialect. She pokes fun at the drama of classic love songs with "Non lo so se ti suonerà neomelodico" [I don't know if it will sound neomelodic to you] before dedicating her whole heart with the famous Neapolitan phrase "Anema e core" [Soul and heart]. She also sneaks in great cultural references, questioning club beats ("Perché metti questa cassa dritta?" [Why do you play this four-on-the-floor beat?]) to demand salsa, invoking the famous opera singer "Maria Callas", and dropping the charming dialect term "nenné" [baby / little one] alongside a reminder that real elegance comes from the bottom, just like jazz.
Serena Brancale grew up in Bari, on Italy's Puglia coast, in a house where music played constantly; her mother, a musician and teacher, gave her first lessons. She studied violin, theater and dance as a child, then earned a jazz vocal degree at the Conservatorio Piccinni. In 2011 she started the Serena Branquartet, blending nu-soul with jazz, and spent years building a following on that sound before turning back toward her own roots.
Her breakthrough came when she began singing in her native Puglian dialect, an homage to Pino Daniele, who had urged her to write in her own tongue. "Anema e core" carried her back to the Sanremo festival a decade after her 2015 debut there with "Galleggiare," went platinum, and led into her fourth album, Sacro. The duet "Serenata," with Alessandra Amoroso, became her biggest chart hit, and she returned to Sanremo again in 2026 with "Qui con me," picking up three awards.