Another working week beckons for many of us and I’m sure we all need a bit of glam sassiness to get us through. Best look no further than today’s Sonic Breakfast track from the self-styled Norwegian mariachi, Robert Vendetta, an entertainer who labels himself old-school as a badge of honour.
The concept for ‘Colombian Spice’ is simple. Robert Vendetta has just bumped into a ‘gorgeous Colombian girl’ coming out of a hotel lift. And the moment made him want to dance in celebration. “It is inspired by real events,“, says Robbie when I check in with him and ask about the veracity of the tale. “I’ve met a lot of amazing women.”
The sound is a mash-up of all manner of vintage influence. It’s glam Bowie, funky crooner and quirky rock ‘n’ roll. It’s a song that wouldn’t seem out of place back in those glorious days of Stiff Records just after the peak of punk when songwriters such as Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Nick Lowe came to the fore. It’s bouncy, pastiche-laden fun.
I ask Robbie how things are in Norway right now, conscious that an extrovert performer such as he is might be struggling more than most. “I miss the casual interaction.“, he tells me. “We’re back in lockdown here in Oslo. The goverment are coming with new information soon, since the numbers of infected people here in Norway are going up. But even tough 2021 has been good to me, thanks to the internet.”
Robert Vendetta is clearly a man with oodles of positive spirit – and nobody can deny that’s what we need right now.
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