Salulandela

Back in the late 1980s, the tight, chirpy hits of pop-fusion outfit Ilanga were a staple of Zimbabwean radio. The original line-up split in 1989, but the solo successes of its alumni – Comrade Chinx, Andy Brown, Adam Chisvo and Busi Ncube – have given the group something of a legendary status.

These days, Ncube is a resident of Oslo. She has tempted the likes of Andy Brown and ex-Oliver Mtukudzi keyboardist Jairos Hambahamba to join her on Salulandela, but she sounds most engaged and excited on ‘Sane’ and ‘Tshayisani’ – tracks on which her big, mature voice and tripping mbira (thumb piano) spar with the scourging Nordic fiddle of Britt Pernille Frøholm. Unfortunately, these two are exceptions on an album that looks more to the past than to the present or the future. Ncube was born and raised in Bulawayo, Matabeleland, but she never quite brings the fire of, say, Busi Mhlongo to the massed voices and Zulu swagger of the title-track. Nor is there any of the spiritual fervour of Stella Chiweshe in her melodious, cleanly produced numbers for voice, mbira and percussion. There is a similar problem with the album’s electronics. Of course, dodgy old synthesizers are a crucial part of some of the best African pop music, but the kwaito rhythms of ‘Siyamdumisa’ and ‘Tshobalami’ simply seem plodding and tired. Hambahamba's bright, choppy keyboards are, at least, a welcome reminder of the proper spirit of Zimbabwe.