When Zucchero Sugar Fornaciari takes to the stage in Malta, his message of love will also feature a poignant reminder of the sea of death that surrounds us. Kurt Sansone dropped the Italian singer and songwriter some questions ahead of the Malta leg of his Black Cat world tour.

Migration is back in the news in Italy as the country struggles to cope with an influx of mainly Africans escaping Libya.

It is a phenomenon that has over the past four years largely bypassed Malta, and the absence of boat people may have made us numb.

But even as we go about our daily lives, oblivious to those making the sea crossing in search of a new beginning, hundreds are perishing in the sea around us.

It is this state of affairs that Zucchero sings about in the gospel song Hey Lord, which forms part of the Black Cat album released last year.

“Without a name, they return to you,” he sings in a poignant reminder of the coffins that were lined up in Malta in 2015 when the bodies of nameless migrants were brought ashore to be buried in a broadcast televised worldwide.

I asked Zucchero about the grim picture of the “new slaves” – this is how he described the migration phenomenon in an interview last year – which he paints in this song. Have we collectively become insensitive to human tragedy?

He believes that in a world inundated with news channels, a migrant tragedy becomes just another item on the bulletin, causing no shock and eliciting very little compassion.

“I think sometimes nowadays very little shocks people. Human tragedies are a terrible thing in the world. There are many problems, so many news channels, and yet it seems that these things appear like everyday news rather than the tragedy they are. I sing to highlight this. Let us all have compassion in our hearts,” he said.

The social message is also reflected in some other songs on the album, which Zucchero described as “darker and rougher” than ever before at its launch in April last year.

Zucchero will perform live in concert at the MFCC, Ta’ Qali, next Saturday.

Streets of surrender (SOS), is a song written by U2’s Bono in remembrance of the victims of the Bataclan terrorist attack in Paris, but the political is also intertwined with the romantic in Partiggiano Reggiano.

The song is a throwback to Zucchero’s childhood roots in Reggio Emilia, once a hotbed of the Italian Communist Party.

Partiggiano Reggiano conveys Zucchero’s free spirit but ditches the ideological split of left and right and speaks of ideals.

“My early life shaped me, as I think it does with almost everybody,” he said when asked about the influence behind the song. “Growing up in Italy, I had a very good childhood and start to my life. They were very happy times indeed.”

On Mandela Day, celebrated July 18, Zucchero tweeted: “A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.”

The words were addressed to the great South African President Nelson Mandela, who led a decades-long struggle to end apartheid in his country. Describing Mandela as a “fantastic inspiration” to him, Zucchero spoke of hope when I asked him whether he was also “a dreamer who never gives up”.

“I would not say I am a dreamer, but of course we all have ambitions in life. Life is good. Let’s not give up and let us all have our dreams and plans to look forward to.”

Zucchero will be performing at the MFCC in Ta’ Qali next Saturday as part of the Black Cat world tour that started last September.

It will not be his first visit to the island: he was here during his 2011 Chocabek world tour concert and appeared at the Joseph Calleja annual summer concert in 2013.

“The Maltese audience is very responsive to me and my music. I am very glad I can perform my Black Cat tour in Malta,” he said when asked about his relationship with the island.

And music remains an inseparable part of the 61-year-old’s personality. “Of course I have my life outside of music, but it is always there for me and the enjoyment I derive from having music in my life is immense.”

Catch Zucchero live in concert at the MFCC at Ta’ Qali on Saturday, August 5. Accompanied by his band, he will interpret songs from his album Black Cat and other classics from his vast repertoire.