Gombya rides high on ‘Spare Tyre’

Oct 13, 2005

SOPHIE Gombya may have missed out on the Best Female Artiste PAM Award this year. But she is now riding at the top of the radio charts with Spare Tyre, her new single.

By Titus Serunjogi
SOPHIE Gombya may have missed out on the Best Female Artiste PAM Award this year. But she is now riding at the top of the radio charts with Spare Tyre, her new single. Written by Silver Kyagulanyi, Spare Tyre is the highlight of Gombya’s latest album that is set to hit the stores anytime soon.

In the title track, the singer taunts her husband’s other mistress, saying she is no better than a spare tyre, or a hyena that must eat leftovers.

Sarcastic, yet oddly gentle, this track is done to slow reggae melodies with smatterings of zouk and Afrojazz.

Spare Tyre showcases the best of Gombya’s choir-trained voice and it is fast climbing towards the top of the local FM radio charts.

It is indeed high time Gombya reclaimed her throne at the top of the charts. Shoved into the spotlight by her 2003 debut Ngugumuka Ekiro (‘I start-up in the middle of the night’), she’s always had a thing for delighting audiences as well as confounding critics.

And for those who thought that her 2003 Best Contemporary Artiste PAM Award was a fluke, here is reason to think otherwise.

After the failure of her last album Insurance, Gombya has emerged with Spare Tyre, which is filled with ear-catching sounds and encapsulates the spirit of her three-year old music career.

Gombya has been better-known for goofing around with her husband, Sam Gombya. Whether they were kissing each other in front of crowds or flattering one another in a song, Sam and Sophie Gombya have always been seen as the epitome of ideal love.

And you wouldn’t doubt this after listening to Traffic Officer, another track off their new album.

Sophie refers to her husband as a traffic officer who is very capable of reading the signposts on the road to romance.

The mix of her high-pitched soprano with Sam’s drowsy droning is simply sensuous — all the more so with the tantalising zouk interludes.

Rather upbeat and rhythmic, Traffic Officer is just another exciting track out of PAM-Award winning producer Joe Tabula’s Studio.

Mutima Gwange, another hit on the album features more drastic bass beats from the Dream Studios.

This simple love song has an undeniable rhythmic chorus that’s so difficult to dislodge from your head.

And once again, the Gombyas churn out such wonderful harmonies that reminisce Jimmy Katumba’s 1980’s vocalists. You have also heard Sophie doing interesting choruses in Ngugumuka Ekiro and Mwenyumirizaamu.

Akalabo (‘the gift’), another song off Sophie’s new album, carries much the same message.

But it is so down beat and sounds as if it has been muffled.

Then there is Kankute (‘Let me let go of you’), which is the song of an embittered man who is fed up of his wife’s ill manners.

Sam’s easy delivery dominates the track with sing-along melodies. The rhythms, meanwhile, flutter between bubbly pop and balladry.

Kankute is catchy power pop that is anywhere from thrillingly rousing to rueful and even apologetic.

The song sort of grows into you every time you listen to it. And it will forever remain timelessly addictive.

The overlapping choruses and Zouk instrumentals add a bit of sensuality. You will not fail to revel with the singer as he lets go of his former lover.

With her new album, Sophie is definitely at the cutting-edge and she wants to let everybody know it.
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