Further to the two albums he released last year, the popular Maltese artist Freddie Portelli is back with a brand new album entitled Blue Sea Bay. As with 2014's Gej il-Maltemp and Il-Kbir ghadu gej, the proceeds of which were donated to Puttinu Cares and Dar tal-Providenza respectively, all proceeds from Blue Sea Bay will go to a registered charity, which this time will be the Hospice Movement.
The title track is inspired by the village where Portelli was born 71 years ago, namely St. Paul's Bay. "The song was originally released as a single back in 1973 when I was fronting The Black Train", Portelli said in a comment. "I wrote it in the 1960s and it's probably my first rock'n roll song in English". Portelli added that he first performed the song for a TV show in the US. "I was touring the States with the Malta Bums at the time, and we were invited to perform on a TV show in California", he recalled. "The band that went on before us was Santana".
The Blue Sea Bay CD album features 22 songs in total, 12 of which are in English and the remainder in Maltese. A few of the tracks had been released on Portelli's earlier albums. "Many of those albums are now quite hard to find, and after receiving countless requests for certain tracks, I decided to include them on the new album".
Portelli's 18th album since he decided to pursue a solo career, Blue Sea Bay is further proof the artist's ongoing passion for music; an unshakable reminder of his success as one of Malta's best-loved performers. "Music has always been a big part of my life. It has brought me much happiness", Portelli concluded, adding that he's already working on another album that will be releaed at the end of the year.
Blue Sea Bay is available from all leading record stores in Valletta and the Hospice Movement offices.