Swaziland: Songs of the Swazi

Despite the 82–year reign of Sobhuza II – the “hip king’’ eulogised by South African jazzer Abdullah Ibrahim – Swaziland has received little international attention for its music. Small, mountainous and squeezed between South Africa and Mozambique, it is mainly known for the majestic, unaccompanied singing of its two major annual ceremonies, the Incwala and the Umhlanga. Songs of the Swazi could hardly be more of a contrast with those mighty gatherings, often 60,000 strong. Most of its 16 tracks involve little more than a single voice and instrument – principally the makhweyane, a calabash resonator bow struck with a light dry reed. The results are raw, intimate and startlingly diverse, from the meditative vocals and chiming rhythm of Ndumiso Tsela’s ‘Umfati Lomdzala’ to Elias Matsenjwa’s wonderful ‘Khala Gogogo’, with its wild, cacophonous sikhelekehle (oil–can violin) and sudden bursts of laughter. The obvious reference points are all South African. The Swazi belong to the same Nguni ethnic group as the Zulu and Xhosa, and songs such as Sagile Matse’s ‘Inkomo Emnyama’ sound like the prototype of Mahlatini’s mbaqanga music. On two songs, a small, ragged band of bass and acoustic guitars, accordion and sikhelekehle come together and you might be listening to outtakes from the Indestructible Beat Of Soweto albums.

The album stands apart in its sense of space and the simple power of its performances. The rural Swazi may be best known to the outside world for their sufferings, but their music is an absolute joy.