Short description
It's taken South Africa's Thandiswa eight long years to appear with her debut album. In that time she's emerged from South Africa's storied Bongo Maffin kwaito group to emerge as a solo artist. And on her first outing she demonstrates quite a range, from the gospel of "Revelation" (which interestingly sounds more like down-home American gospel than its South African counterpart) to the muted jazz of "Ntyilo Ntyilo," with plenty of classy R&B in between. However, it's not the R&B typical of contemporary American charts. This is more thoughtfully arranged, not as spare, and without the kind of vocal histrionics so typical of divas. Thandiswa has an excellent voice, but she uses it in service of her songs, as on the title track, rather than needing to be claiming front and center stage with vocal gymnastics. There's also a strong sense of roots about this album, whether in the mbaqanga-styled "Lahl' Umlenze," an uplifting duet with Appleseed that looks forward even as it harks back to a '60s style, or the fact that she mostly sings in Xhosa -- a virtual guarantee that she'll be excluded from the mainstream American market. While not everything works -- sticking in the jazzy "Ntyilo Ntyilo" is a mistake, as it interrupts the flow of the disc -- there's a powerful sense of spirit here that marks Thandiswa as an artist with a big future. ~ Chris Nickson