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NICKY BOMBA
ushers in brand new album
‘FOOD & SHELTER’
today

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Acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer and songwriter Nicky Bomba has today released his new album, Food & Shelter (ABC Music).

Food & Shelter is just his second solo album but the 24th of his career. Nicky has been a blazing creative spark in Australian music for decades: drummer in the John Butler Trio on classic albums Sunrise Over Sea, April Uprising and Flesh & Blood; the driving force behind Melbourne Ska Orchestra, the giant brass collective that grew from a one-off gig in Melbourne to play stages from Bluesfest to Glastonbury and win ARIAs for best world music album in 2016 and 2019. He is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter who has played in bands from Bomba to Bustamento and worked with greats like Joe Camilleri (their 2005 album Limestone) and Ross Hannaford (the Bomba-produced 1996 album Ross Hannaford Trio is reissued on Bomba’s label Transmitter Records).

Food & Shelter finds those seeds in fertile ground, drawing on all Bomba’s experience exploring styles from reggae to jazz, funk and ethnic folk to create music with a bold, contemporary voice. As the title suggests, the album is about going back to basics on the path to discovery.

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Self-sufficiency has long been one of Bomba’s personal goals. That’s why he taught himself the art of recording in the first place, to keep musical control at his fingertips. If it ever came to a point where a musician couldn’t even be in a room with musical collaborators – a time where we were all locked down in our homes for an extended period, for example – there would still be a way forward. Food & Shelter is the first album he has made where he plays, writes and sings every note, all recorded in the studio at his home in the beautiful mountain country of north-eastern Victoria.

Bomba says: “Some say lockdown is the time when introverts are at their best and I am one of those people. This was the perfect time for me to stay home, get motivated, be disciplined. The song Opportunity is about just that. This was the chance to make it happen.”

The food and shelter theme recurs through the album: “Food equals the fuel that ignites us physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, to meet the challenges of modern life. Shelter is the safe house, the place of solace, friendship, love, getting back to nature, nurturing.”

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Bomba was born in Malta and his family moved to Melbourne when he was a baby. In 2007 he helped his father Nicol Caruana make an album of folk songs, Malta. In 2020 they were able to spend precious spend time together before his father passed away. The healing power of music is a vital element in the making of Food & Shelter and songs like Changels, which refers to the guiding spirits Bomba feels close to him in times of change and pain.

“The song relates to my dad, conversing with him last year and somehow even more now since his passing. Change is the only constant in life and how we move through it teaches us the biggest lessons.

“You don’t have to keep everything inside; it needs to come out somehow. It might be playing a guitar and screaming at the top of your lungs or writing songs and making a record. Creating something, that’s what always works for me.”

Nicky has extended his offering to all fans who purchase the Food & Shelter vinyl, album download or hard cover book, the chance to win a complete Gretsch drum kit and cymbals. The competition is extended to midnight on October 28 – with everyone who makes the purchase eligible to go in the draw. The main prize is a Gretsch Catalina Club Drum Kit and UFIP Cymbals, with additional prizes up for grabs comprised of vinyl test pressings with personalised artwork, a limited release framed picture of Nicky’s artwork from his ‘Sunflower Sounds‘ exhibition, and Nicky Bomba pencil drumsticks, t-shirts and tea towel. Enter HERE.

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Food & Shelter
Tracklisting:

1.Home
2.Bubble time
3.Don’t Waste A Minute
4.Lemonade
5.Rise of the New Shango
6.Malibu
7.Changels
8.Why Worry
9.Opportunity
10.Here Comes Love Again
11.There’s A Limit

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Follow NICKY BOMBA
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Instagram

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AMNPLIFY – SR