House music, and the glorious tension between its on-beat and its syncopated elements, has long been a sound associated with South Africa. From the languorous tempos of sample-heavy kwaito, a subgenre established in post-apartheid townships in Johannesburg, to the Pretorian call-and-response of diBacardi, and the adrenalised polyrhythms of gqom – a raw, bass-heavy recapitulation of kwaito, founded in the early 2010s in Durban – these dance musics have often been a vital means of self-expression for the country’s socially segregated youth.
The most recent mutation in South African house is amapiano. Another dancefloor staple similarly popularised largely via play in local clubs in the Gauteng province, rather than through major label interference, amapiano sits mid-tempo between kwaito and gqom. Its sonic palette is one of minimal percussion and rattling shakers, infectious piano melodies and a tendency towards a dubby, deep house momentum of energy – one that never quite peaks.
Production duo Zakhele Mhlanga and Kgothatso Tshabalala are the latest to channel the amapiano sound with their debut release as Native Soul. Aged only 18 and 19 respectively, the pair produce a surprisingly mature and cohesive body of work throughout its 14 tracks. Seamlessly sequenced, opener The Beginning lays out the duo’s percussive foundations – electronic toms, shaker and snappy snares – while holding back on melodies until the euphoric synth pads of following number Way to Cairo. The kineticism continues to carry in the ominous, minor-key synths of The Journey and the glimpses of rumbling synth-bass on Ambassador.
Native Soul’s work has a distinctly dark strain to it, as if acknowledging the claustrophobic urban sprawl in which it is made, while also trying to encourage the listener to imagine more than that, through their instinctual need to dance to its groove. It is a fine balance but Native Soul execute it well, producing a deep album that feels equally at home through headphones or on a soundsystem, one that seems to coax you back onto the shared space of the dancefloor.
Also out this month
Sitar maestro Purbayan Chatterjee channels a free-flowing jazz fusion on his latest release, Unbounded: Abaad (Sufiscore), featuring the likes of tabla player Zakir Hussain and banjo player Béla Fleck on tracks that reference classical traditions through an improvisatory lens. Producers Chief Boima and Will LV present their second collaboration with Sierra Leonian thumb piano player Sorie Kondi as Kondi Band on We Famous (Strut). The post-production is light, allowing Kondi’s distinctive voice and ear for melody to shine. Cairo-based producers Msylma and Ismael release The Tenets of Forgetting (Éditions Appærent) a beautifully sculptural mix of classical Arabic singing with abstract electronic backing.
