On 27th August Bongeziwe Mabandla announced the release of his debut album Umlilo. Besides previously released songs ‘Gunuza‘ & ‘Phupha Lam‘ it contains 10 other beautiful tracks in which Bongeziwe displays his rich and melodious voice as well as his sense for socially relevant issues. The LP surprises listeners with a diversity in sounds, instruments and moods. Whereas in ‘Umlilo‘ Bongeziwe sings with a heavy loaded voice about how people use their pain to move forward ‘Alright‘ radiates with optimism and hope. In ‘Freedom for Everyone‘ he asks ‘How hard is freedom if there is no freedom for everyone?‘ and demands ‘Freedom for the fishermen, the farmer boy, freedom for everyone‘. A universal message that does not only find relevance in the South African society. In ‘Ndibonisiwe‘ Bongeziwe is joined by Nosisi, member of the South African band Freshlyground.
Without any doubt. Umlilo is a Afro-Folk masterpiece, timeless music yet to be discovered by many people out there. It is available on look & listen, itunes and amazon (Here you can also listen to some samples of the songs).
Here is again the beautifully visualized song Gunuza in which Bongeziwe sings about how even very popular persons can have dark secrets.
Bongeziwe Mabandla *-* ‘Gunuza‘
jusi I love 