Full Moon

It’s hard to miss Moonchild Sanelly. The South African singer can usually be identified by her blue braids and for being surrounded by a crowd singing from the pits of their stomachs and dancing with the entirety of their booties. Aside from being a prolific performer – she clocked ten appearances at Glastonbury alone in 2024 – Sanelly’s aptitude for snappy, danceable tunes is her most conspicuous quality, and one that’s out in full force on her latest release. From the bass and bombast of breakfast-appreciating opener ‘Scrambled Eggs’ to the melodic introspection of ‘Falling’ and the isiXhosa crooning of ‘Mntanami’, Full Moon is slick, sexy and sentimental, blending the propulsive club sounds of kwaito, gqom and amapiano with pop mastery and punk rawness to create Sanelly’s unique ‘future ghetto-funk’. Despite being Sanelly’s third studio album, Full Moon feels funnier, fresher and fiercer than earlier releases – and potentially the vessel to transport Sanelly’s larger-than-life persona to the big time.