‘Melodi Lafanmiy’ choir launches gospel album |04 January 2023

•           Starts touring the country this weekend

A new gospel album by the St Famille de Nazareth choir, ‘Melodi Lafanmiy’ was launched over the weekend as part of activities to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, and to usher in the New Year.

The album comprises 14 spiritual songs – 13 are composed by the choir’s leader, Christopher Adelaide and his wife Gina, while Jane Florentine and Father Eric Leon contributed one song entitled ‘Ansanm Avek Lespri Sen’.

The other titles include ‘Annou Dekouver’, ‘Kominyon Pour Lavi’, ‘Mon Salye ou Mari’, ‘Sant Avek Nou bann Arkanz’, ‘Les Mwan Loue ou Mon Bondye’, among others.

It comes a year after ‘Melodi Lafanmiy’ contributed towards another gospel album entitled ‘Ti Lepa’.

Speaking to Seychelles NATION, choir member Gina Adelaide said the last one was a collaborative work, and it was the impetus that led them to produce their own work.

She said their songs are inspired by their daily activities at the church or the themes they use for various events, as well as verses from the bible.

“The songs we compose are from our own personal experiences, something we have lived or experienced at the church and among our friends, or done through a training. So, we are inspired every day by what goes on around us, and of course by reading the bible as well,” she said.

According to Mrs Adelaide, the over forty-member choir has been rehearsing and recording since July to ensure the album comes out on time for the Feast of the Holy Family and ‘Melodi Lafanmiy’ will kick off a nationwide tour as of this weekend to promote their album. Their first two stops will be Baie Ste Anne and Grand Anse Praslin.

They will then tour Mahé and end the promotional tour on La Digue. She said they do not want to sell the gospel album without giving people a chance to hear and see what they are about and what they have done.

“You would notice on the album we have really worked as a family unit, allowing as many members as possible to showcase their talent, so many are singing solo. This is what our choir is about, functioning as a family, giving every member their chance to shine and each member bringing their special touch to the table. So, we want people to listen to the album with the same mindset that we have worked with,” explained Mrs Adelaide.

The gospel songs include local ‘sega’ beat, the traditional ‘kanmtole’, reggae as well as slow, meditative tunes.

Mrs Adelaide said they wanted to bring a more modern touch, “as bringing our culture into the church help us to better live our faith, especially the younger generation”.

It should be noted that during the service, the choir also blessed a batch of musical instruments sponsored by the head of state, President Wavel Ramkalawan, following a request from one of the members, who had written to him.

According to Mrs Adelaide, the choir, which has its own band, plans on recruiting and training new musicians this year and they need additional equipment to do so.

“The president was the first to respond to our plea and we are very grateful to him for this gesture. We are calling on others to follow suit because we have a lot of young people who want to join us. Some are presently following training on their own but we want to do it within our choir,” she explained.

Among the members, the youngest is 4 years old, while six are below 12 years old and eight are below 17 years old.

The new gospel album, in the form of a pen drive, is on sale at R200 and the public can contact 2823791 for their copy.

The accompanying photos show some highlights of the service.

Patsy Canaya