Reviews

Artist:Afrika Mamas
Album: Ilanga / The Sun
Label: ARC
Tracks: 10
Website: https://www.facebook.com/afrika.mamas

This is a truly beautiful album. I have been hooked on African vocal music since I was about 7 years old when I heard Missa Luba's "Sanctus". After the reggae years of the late 1970s, Ladysmith Black Mambazo reintroduced the Zulu vocal styles of 'isicathamiya' and 'mbube' to the UK charts with their astonishing contributions to Paul Simon's much acclaimed "Graceland" album in 1986, gaining further popularity ten years later in the UK singles charts with their resonant version of "Swing Low Sweet Chariot". This is music for the heart and soul, achieving spellbinding harmonies with consummate ease, so when I saw that "Ilanga / The Sun" from Afrika Mamas was produced by Xolani Majosi from Mambazo, I wasn't going to miss this opportunity to review the album.

Founded by band leader Ntombifuthi Lushaba in 1998, Afrika Mamas describe themselves as a 'folk-tale group' with a goal to break down cultural barriers and educate by relating African tales in their performances. The six band's members are all single mothers, each having a specific role within the group harmonies: Lushaba is the band leader and tenor of the group; Patricia Bhe Shandu is one of four lead singers, her harmony role being alto; Sibongile Nkosi takes the bass harmony; both Sinegugu Khoza and Zukiswa Majozi sing soprano; Nomvula Dlamini is billed as the band's bass singer. Knowing these roles further helps with an appreciation of the skill with which these wonderful harmonies are delivered.

And so to the songs. These descriptions are largely taken from the album's highly informative accompanying booklet, because the band can tell the song stories far better than I could! The album opens with "Hlonipha", which means respect the world and other people. The song mixes an English refrain 'the key of life is respect' with African dialect and strikes a wonderful note on which to lead you through this work. "Wangishiyelani" sees a woman pleading with her boyfriend to return so they can work together on fixing their relationship. It is a production technique to remove breathe between vocal tracks, but here the breath is integral to the overall performance, adding depth to the emotion behind the song.

In a surprising change of tone, "Tshelamina" is about a serial killer who murders people when he doesn't get what he wants. "Isilingo" is about an untrustworthy man who keeps proposing to different women, promising heaven and earth to each. There is a lovely vocal gap in the final part of this song that seems to add further emphasis when the vocal resumes. "IBhodwe", the longest song on the album, is about a big cooking pot and provides an insight into a marriage tradition, where before a ceremony the groom asks the bride to join his family with an assurance that their pot is very big. This is the song of the album for me. It has the feel of a Gospel song, and went on repeat because the harmonies are stunning. In an album full of wonderful surprises, Afrika Mamas now deliver a beautifully rearranged version of John Lennon's "Imagine", which concludes with an amazing section of Zulu singing that means 'people of the world are united, black and white together'.? When a band cover one of your favourite songs, it has to be exceptional and this is. Lennon would certainly have approved.

What a great way to precede the title track! "Ilanga" means both 'sun' and 'day', and the song is about 'never forgetting the day we met'. Written by Sibongiseni Shabalala, the son of Joseph Shabalala (1940-2020), founder of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. There is a true family spirit to this album: another of Joseph's sons, Thulani Shabalala composed, arranged and produced tracks 1 and 3. "Ilanga" is delivered at a gentle pace and seems to repeat the message behind the song with a calming, recurring vocal mood.

"Sithwele Kanzima" is about the suffering of women, graphically described in the album notes, and this song feels especially appropriate today following the murder of Sarah Everard here in London this month, and the ensuing protests. Tragedy is everywhere, and most tragedy can be avoided. "Isuka Kude" begins with a call and return vocal section between the lead singer and the chorus. The song talks of the acapella Zulu singing genre isicathamiya, which originated in the 20th century.

"Uzitshela Ukuthi Uyazi" brings the album to a close, and is about a local 'gossip', a lady who knows everyone's business and spends her life spreading the knowledge gained.

When you listen to this album, you will not feel you have listened to an album without instruments. The skilful juxtaposition off the six voices and clever production ensure the experience feels whole. It is a remarkable piece of work. This is also an album that doesn't pull any punches, adeptly switching from issues of family and relationships to the brutality of life. It is an album of beauty that harbours unsettling stories, recurring stories that seem to indicate humankind is incapable of learning from its mistakes. Yet it is delivered with optimism, a sense of family and community, so reflecting the lives of most of us.

John Reed

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