Words by Justin Turford
The history of vocal harmony singing runs deep in Southern Africa. From the isolated migrant workers crowded into dormitories who sang together in the Zulu isicathamiya style to dispel their physical pains and homesickness to globally acclaimed bands such as the Grammy award winning Ladysmith Black Mambazo and the mbaqanga supergroup Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, the combined musical voices of Black South Africa have always rung true.
Gospel has of course been a key inspiration and education for vocal groups. Brought into Africa by Christian missionaries, the traditional ‘western’ hymn structures soon became hybridised with local dialects and indigenous singing styles to create new forms and by the 1990s, as Apartheid was finally being dismantled, gospel music became a vital and popular genre in South Africa. Thirty years on and the promises and hopes of this new Mzansi nation still seem far away for the many as the country staggers from crisis to crisis and the young unemployed of the townships do whatever they can to survive in unthinkable conditions.
During lockdown, a shaky home-recorded video of some young South African men singing went quietly viral. These young singers were Soweto’s Diepkloof United Voice and their a cappella interpretation of Brenda Fassie’s 1989 potent and tragic ‘bubblegum’ hit ‘Too Late For Mama’ was like a beacon of purity in a world that felt too dirty to touch. With powerful multi-harmonies and a stunning lead tenor, they created a moment of transcendental beauty, rearranging the melancholic but upbeat song into a cry to the heavens. Digging fruitlessly for any ‘proper’ recordings, all I could find were amateur phone videos of their performances and hundreds of comments from people from across the planet who had been equally touched by their talents. I actually ripped the audio from YouTube to open a radio show such was my desperation to share their music!
‘Too Late For Mama’
“Yeah
Ten kilometres barefooted in the bush
Started raining on the way to fetch some water
Poor woman had a baby on her back
Was struck by lightening on the way
To fetch some water
She tried hiding under a tree to save her child
Poor woman had no place to go
Lightening caught her with her baby on her back
Friends, relatives ran for her
It was too late
It was too late
Too late for mama
Oh no
Husband came running to the scene yeah
Poor man held his dead wife in his arms
Eyes full of tears not believing the nightmare
Knelt down and prayed, for this was a painful loss”
Luckily for us, the excellent New York label Ostinato Records had caught the same train, actively reaching out to the band and finally helping them to record an album!
Diepkloof United Voice - Classroom Recording Session
This was no ordinary recording session however. All nine members came together from the Diepkloof neighbourhood of Soweto in 2016 through meetings at choirs and singing competitions, and it is in churches, halls and classrooms that they honed their singular sound; where better to record their album than in a place that they already knew? An abandoned classroom at Lebowa Elementary School in Diepkloof Zone 3, was where they filmed the viral performance of ‘Too Late For Mama’ and was also the space in which they had rehearsed for years. They knew this room and the room knew them. Hardly a professional studio environment but the band’s intense connection to the space comes across on this fantastic recording, their rich tones and heartfelt melodies both mesmerising and empowering.
“The school competition and choir really helped us a lot as a group because if it wasn't for them, the group wouldn't have formed. We wouldn't know each other. We met in those competitions, which is where the idea of having a choir came. Also the competitiveness helped us to become strong in our sound, to help us be one unified powerhouse.”
The album opens with a fine new rendition of ‘Too Late For Mama’, sounding clearer than the viral version naturally, and somehow more hymn-like, its tragic lyrics demanding a closer listen: the resonances of the voices reaching deeper into the bones.
The only song on the record sung in Zulu is a pretty faithful version of ‘Baninzi’ by fellow South African’s The Soil from their eponymously titled 2011 album. Their (unique to Soweto) swinging kasi soul sound is built upon with a deeper baritone, the original’s clicks and subtle beatbox dynamics remain in place as does its romantic tenderness.
Reminding us of how young these wonderful singers are is a surprisingly brilliant take on Rihanna’s megahit ‘Stay’. Retitled here as ‘Round & Round’, the switch from a tale of heartbreak to a declaration of love is artfully managed by rewritten lyrics and outstanding polyphonic harmonies - the warm bed of bass and baritone is something else!
The sombre but captivating ‘Sipo’ is a funereal song in remembrance of a recently deceased family member, the song’s history as an honouring of a fallen African soldier now given a more universal intent.
The band’s repertoire is full of twists and none more so than their baritone led version of Marion Brown’s 1970 midtempo soul stepper ‘Who Knows’, a hitherto obscure cut that found fame on RJD2’s ‘Smoke & Mirrors’ track (which led to the Numero Group releasing Brown’s music to a new audience on their Eccentric Soul series). Minus the original’s instrumentation, the song still has go-forward energy, if anything Diepkloof United’s performance harnesses more dynamism and positivity than Brown’s version!
Letta Mbulu’s sultry electro-boogie classic ‘Nomalizo’ is given a remarkable and nearly unrecognisable reworking with Mbulu’s original rhythm section slinkiness replaced with a single finger click and rhythmical bass vocals. Moments of wide open space appear for the lead singer before the full choral thrust joins in. Amazing.
The band’s final song on their staggeringly good debut album is ‘My Brother’, a funky doo-wop sounding song from an unnamed South African composer that goes heavy on the isicathamiya style harmonies that first conquered the global north via Paul Simon’s ‘Graceland’. The lyrics anger is in stark juxtaposition to the joyous feeling of the singing and a perfect ending to a perfect record.
I’ve been waiting impatiently for these young men from Diepkloof to deliver the goods and my word, they have done it with great heart, soul and spirit. Respect to Ostinato Records for helping this new generation reach the skies as they so deserve. (More than) 10/10.
Released on November 10 2023 on Ostinato Records.
PRE-ORDER HERE! https://ostinatorecords.bandcamp.com/album/harmonizing-soweto-golden-city-gospel-kasi-soul-from-the-new-south-africa