ASHLEY DO ROSARIO
PANAJI
Having rested his vocal chords for a while, iconic pop star and arguably one of Goa’s most famous contemporary personalities, Remo Fernandes, has sprung a surprise: a new to-be-released-soon album, a musical on the life of Saint of the Gutters, Mother Teresa.
Remo, who bitterly quit the shores of Goa and relocated in Portugal two years ago following a brush with the law in which he eventually got a clean chit from the courts recently, released a teaser of his upcoming album on YouTube on Wednesday. ‘Teresa & the Slum Bum’ is expected to be released in about a month’s time and definitely before the end of this year. It involves a singing cast of some 30 artistes from India, Europe, United Kingdom and USA and is a musical written, composed and performed by Remo. Several of the artistes are of Goan origin, including his sister Belinda and some others from Goa itself such as Margao-based Saiesh Poi Panandikar and child artistes from the SFX School in his native Siolim village Filifa Carvalho, Abigail Da Cruz, Preston Dias and the Class III-IV choir.
According to the YouTube teaser, Remo himself lends his iconic voice as the ‘Slum Bum’ and Fleur Anne Dias is said to be singing as Mother Teresa.
The YouTube teaser also describes the work as ‘Mother Teresa’s unofficial life story’ told with love in “unforgettable” lyrics and music.
All the lyrics, music, arrangements, instruments, midi-programming, recording, mixing and the cover art is credited to Remo himself. Remo’s post on YouTube on Wednesday hopes to tap crowd-funders the world over and is currently crowdfunding at gofundme.com.
