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Amanda Homi: Till I Reach Bombay

February 14, 2014

World music qualifies as the stupidest tag ever invented. It is used for anything that isn’t rooted in Western musical tradition. But it makes sense for an album that ties together the sounds from Greece, Italy, India, Colombia, Egypt and Spain. NYC singer Amanda Homi is like a kid in a candy store, sampling the goods and finally deciding she wants it all for her new album Till I Reach Bombay.

With Graham Hawthorne in the producer’s seat she embarks on a worldwide musical journey, writing a song during each stopover. Her crystal voice ties it together, no matter whether she reminisces about her stay in the cultural hotspot of Athens as an 18-year old (Kaisariani) or about her collection of Shoes (with a joyous accordion as the lead instrument), she finds a way to tame the eclecticism and make the song a part of her musical vocabulary. She pays tribute to her heroes in literature Federico García Lorca and Gabriel García Márquez (Una Promesa) and serves an alternate theme song for Vittorio De Sica’s classic film Ladri di biciclette.

Till I Reach Bombay a jigsaw puzzle made out of moods, smells and flavours. It all fits, but it will keep the listener occupied for hours.