LIGHTS AND BRIDGES is what happens when a composer of global, border-dissolving tones and beats decides to condense his symphonic visions into intimate, yet still epic slices of song, lyric and sound. It’s the evocative collision of voice and acoustic guitar stripped to its melodic essence. It’s the lush whisper of breathtaking harmony and atmosphere. It’s echoes of icons like CSN, Simon & Garfunkel, and Nick Drake. It’s a conversation with contemporaries like Bon Iver, José González, and Eliot Smith.
It’s the poetic designation that singer-songwriter Tom Rossi has taken on to imagine a new musical landscape, the kind of collection of song and texture you want to envelope yourself in at hushed dusk or midnight. Rossi’s best known for beautiful, groove laden, wordless world music records like Salma Har, featured on tastemaker programs like BBC/PRI's The World, NPR's Echoes and Talk of the Nation. So LIGHTS AND BRIDGES becomes at once an avenue for reinvention, a return to roots, and a distillation.
Rossi’s a fluent multi-instrumentalist in everything from ceremonial Ghanaian hand drums to African kora. He’s a therapeutic musician, who’s dedicated years to the art of performing for those in the most vulnerable condition of hospice care. It’s both intriguing and rewarding to hear these unusual skills and influences filter through the lens of more conventional instrumentation and song structure on instant classics like Superball (a collab with poet, Rich Ferguson) and Outside The Wall.
LIGHTS AND BRIDGES doesn’t demand attention. It’s the kind of subtle musical spell one has to lean into to truly receive. Producer Guy Erez creates immersive arrangements that magnetize via their purity and restraint. With release set for September 5th, 2017, and the song Lemonade featured in new indie cinema favorite, Gala & Godfrey, LIGHTS AND BRIDGES is already wooing the attention of creators and appreciators alike. This breathtaking four-song debut only promises many more to come.
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