Vintage album crowns Sonny Morgan's 20-year music odyssey |27 November 2004
Listening to the music maestro's new album entitled This World is For Everyone, one cannot but feel great admiration for the La Digue-born musician who has risen from humble beginnings to become one of the hottest properties in the music arena through a colourful musical career spanning 20 years.
Already on sale at the usual music outlets, the new album, which is the singer's ninth release, comprises ten delectable tracks which confirm Sonny as one of the greatest local artists of our time.
As can be expected from a master of the art, the musical arrangements are exquisite and the lyrics well researched and profound, all attesting to Sonny's ever increasing maturity as a songwriter and musician.
As usual Sonny is inspired by the events happening all around us and the sometimes harsh realities of life as is evident in songs such as Can I wear your shoes for a day and Shelter from the storm.
The title track, which is in fact the first number appearing on the album, is a wake-up call to all of us that no one owns the world.
"Whether we are a human being or an animal, whether we are rich or poor, if we exist, we have a reason for being here on this planet and as such we deserve respect," says Sonny.
Through the song entitled Those great men that great women Sonny pays tribute to all those legendary figures – Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, to name but a few – who have sacrificed enormously for the benefit of mankind.
"I cannot fail to show my respect to those people who have striven ceaselessly to make the world a better place," says Sonny.
Societal ills such as jealousy that invariably blackens societies is the underlying theme of the song Find a cure.
Although plying his trade in Australia and rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous, Sonny has always kept Seychelles very close to his heart and never lost touch with his homeland and music. The three Creole songs featuring on his new album – Botan Narle, La Vie and Festival Kreol – testify to that fact.
The other tracks on the album are Ghetto Girl and Bad Moon.
Sonny believes that the highlight of his 20-year music career was winning the Uni. Song Award with his track entitled United Together which featured on his last album entitled Tropical Experience.
Uni. Song award is a song competition organized in Los Angeles, America for songwriters all over the world giving them a passport to the music industry. This success provided Sonny a record deal and a publishing contract with Yesterday's Music and Gotham Records.
Other feathers in Sonny's cap include sign up by the 'See For Miles Records' label based in Middlesex, England (1988) and in 1992 by German record label Walter Kahl Publishing, which is part of Koch Records, one of the biggest record companies in Germany.
Sonny thinks that he has a lot to offer to our younger generation of artists and his wish is to be a role model to young, up and coming musicians and contribute towards the development of music here.
R.A.