Bantu Spaceship

Post-Mugabe Zimbabwe has witnessed something of a musical freeing up since the death of the revolutionary turned tyrant in 2019. Reminting the past, the eponymous debut by Bantu Spaceship – producer Joshua Madalitso Chiundiza and singer Ulenni Okandlovu – is a stylish colliding of jit, chimurenga and Ndebele chants laced with ambient-chill electronica and glossed with adroitly-handled disco dance floor-filling potential. Not since the Bhundu Boys in the late 80s has jit seemed so alive and relevant, the package neatly repositioning Afrofuturism for an international audience.

Lead single ‘Don’t Break’ surfs along on an infectious sungura guitar riff courtesy of Ngosimbi Crew veteran Sam Mabukwa, Okandlovu's voice conjuring memories of the late, lamented Solomon Skuza. Vocal contributions from Thandi Ntuli (on ‘Journey to Misava’, treated to three pulsing re-mixes by Kid Fonque) and rapper Kwela Sekele – on the teetering and poised ‘Mqibelo (A Prayer for the Weekend)’ – offer engaging invitations of their own. Just as catchy is the pulsing ‘Bantu Spaceship’, with its glancing nod towards the theme for the 1980s cult TV series, Knight Rider. Buoyed by bouncing snare drum and pulsating synth, ‘Mhondoro’ bracingly samples Robson Banda classic ‘Dzinomwa Muna Save’, before the catchy up-tempo, hip hop of ‘Misava, the Arrival’. An auspicious debut.