Ibokwe

After singing with South African kwaito pioneers Bongo Maffin, Thandiswa Mazwai's 2004 solo debut Zabalaza marked something of a departure. Whereas Bongo Maffin create a streetwise fusion of house, R&B, hip–hop, ragga and township styles, Zabalaza was a much more mainstream affair. Featuring material that crossed over into dinner jazz and even gospel, it seemed pitched at whatever the South African equivalent of BBC Radio 2 might be. It's taken Thandiswa five long years to follow up that album and in that time her musical vision has matured considerably. She's singing better than ever. Songs such as ‘Thongo Lam (lyeza)’ are built so strongly around her lead voice and backing chorus that at first you barely notice the instrumental accompaniment. The context is quite different, but the technique evokes comparisons with some of the vocal experiments of Sally Nyolo and Marie Daulne's Zap Mama. And the songs are varied and inventive, bubbling with melodies and grooves that are catchier than a bout of swine flu. Highlights include the clattering, propulsive title–track, the bluesy funk of ‘Ngimkhonzile’, the mesmerising ‘Ingoma’, a bittersweet love song that features Hugh Masekela on some wonderfully muted trumpet, and the traditional–sounding ‘Izilo’, a bouncing, wailing slice of township joy in the Zulu mbaqanga style popularised by the likes of Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens.

With a quite amazing piece of cover art, panoramically depicting Soweto in all its sprawling vibrancy – those iconic cooling towers looming on the horizon – Ibokwe has to be one of the most powerful releases to come out of South Africa since it emerged from the darkness to become the Rainbow Nation.