SOMI

Red Soil In My Eyes

2007-08-06

She was born in Illinois and did most of her growing up in America, but the singer who calls herself Somi -- that's short for L. Kabasomi Kakoma -- is the daughter of Rwandan and Ugandan parents, also spent time living in Africa and, due in no small part to the extremes of that experience, has created a seamless merger of cultures, sounds and emotions with this richly textured recording. Red Soil in My Eyes is all elegance and awe, and attempting to reduce Somi's pan-globalism and command of her artistic environment to a single genre or purpose would be a fruitless endeavor. She skates easily between worlds, touching on both smooth and raucous neo-soul, nuanced jazz expression and more than a dollop of East African tradition until something else all together emerges. - AMG

More reviews tagged #World

  • reviewed 07/2007

    BOB MARLEY
    Roots, Rock, Remixed

  • reviewed 08/2016

    The Sound Of Ghosts
    Come Home

  • reviewed 08/2007

    SUPHALA
    Blueprint

  • reviewed 08/2016

    Corbu
    Crayon Soul

  • reviewed 01/2006

    PATRICE LAROSE AND JULIA SARR
    Set Luna

  • reviewed 07/2004

    Lila Downs
    Una Sangre/One Blood

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.