The Joy

Yes, it’s a lazy quip, but what a joy this is. Six years ago, when these five young men from the South African township of Hammarsdale turned up early to their school choir practice and started jamming together, it must have seemed inconceivable that one day Alicia Keys would be a fan, Jennifer Hudson would call them her ‘favourite South African group,’ their a cappella songs would garner millions of streams and they would make this eponymous album of 11 raw, spine-tingling songs in a famous North London church recording studio. But make it they did: in real time with no overdubs and no wizardry – in the spirit of their Zulu musical heritage and also the street-corner groups of the doo-wop era. Listening to their harmonies, it’s hard not to think of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, on whose music the members of The Joy grew up. Marcus (Sanele Ngcobo) sings lead on ‘Ngiphuphe’, otherwise the thrilling and deeply affecting lead voice is Duzie’s (Melokuhle Mkhungo). In conjunction with four-part harmonies, the richness of numbers like ‘Amandla ka Moya’ can be almost overpowering. As for the penultimate ‘Jesu’, it could wash, rinse and wring even the starchiest sinner. This exceptional album is the very soul of simplicity.