Release Radar: Africans from Outta Space is Here
Afronaut’s genre-busting Africans From Outta Space has landed.
The debut EP by Soweto three-piece Afronaut delivers six memorable tracks for music fans across the globe.
Titled Africans from Outta Space, the record is a full-frontal sonic assault from Fumane “Fumez on the Mic” Mahane (vocals), Thulasizwe “Thulas” Nkosi (guitar) and Zakhele “Zakes” Mangwanyane (violin), that marks out the band as one of the most exciting to have emerged from South Africa this year.
Much of this has much to do with the sheer dynamism and energy embedded in the music, which draws inspiration from an expansive terrain. Blues, rock, punk, pop, country and folk surface in the – at times sprawling - mix that recalls the primal impulse of early Iggy Pop, the brooding vocals of Howlin’ Wolf and the boiled down rock essence of the Ramones.
But, at its heart, Africans from Outta Space reflects Afronaut’s particular location in Soweto where the three-piece is based.
This is heard in the insistent melodies and catchy choruses of songs like first single “Birdhouse” which references the band’s formation and its members’ backgrounds - including Nkosi’s stint in the South African army. “When I was still in the army/everybody wanted something from me/it was crazy/now that I manifest music/nobody really wants anything from me/because I’m crazy,” sings Mahane over a jangling guitar pop melody and superb analogue production (handclaps, shakers) that gives the song the space it needs.
“Youthless” is a lament for the innocence of youth that features lines from the 19th Century poet Francis William Bourdillon – “the night has a thousand eyes/And the day but one” – and spotlights Mangwanyane’s tender violin playing which adds poignancy to this standout track. “Hell For Sinners” – originally written as a rap and evolving into the EP’s most bluesy track - and the strangely spellbinding “Ghost On the Roof” capture Afronaut’s intention to “share how we go about our daily lives and our experiences with the world” - as does the defiantly sing-a-long and globally resonant (“somewhere in the world/ right now/there’s a bar fight”) “Barfight”.
Perhaps the track that most defines Afronaut is “Life Spiral” – an anthemic song built around the rebel-cry chorus of “I don’t fit in”. “Life Spiral sums up our history and our lives,” reveals Nkosi, “it’s about being different and not fitting into a square, a box, or a circle – but about just being yourself.”
This philosophy has seen Afronaut become one of the leaders of the So’ Punk – Soweto Punk - movement that is as much about music as it is about skateboarding and surviving in the hood, two decades into the 21st century, during times of economic downswings and pandemics. Within this context, the band’s members have absorbed musical influences ranging from Sex Pistols, Ramones, Bob Dylan and Stevie Wonder (Nkosi) and Ray Charles, Rolling Stones, and KRS-One (Mahane) with Mangwanyane taking his violin playing into the rigorous demands of the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra.
Africans from Outta Space was produced by Barry Berk at The Bass Station in Johannesburg who describes Afronaut as “amazing to behold” and “one of the purest, most original expressions of South African music I’ve heard in many years”.
“They are this wonderful blend of country, punk, soul and R&B coming out of Soweto. It’s an incredible sound,” says Berk. “They came into the studio pretty raw and with a strange assortment of instruments that came together really interestingly – Fumez’s soulful voice, that he uses like a preacher, Thulas’s Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat guitar technique and, then on top of that, a violin.”
The only significant addition to Afronaut’s sound in Berk’s studio was a kick drum. “No snare drum or high hat, just a whole lot of percussion which the band is incredibly adept at playing,” adds Berk. “It was wonderful to see it all come together in the studio - Thulas’s original, inventive sound, Zakes’ superb musicianship and Fumane’s Gospel-like singing that really serves the band’s erudite and profound lyrics that are an expression of existence coming out of the township.”
Africans from Outta Space is destined to put Afronaut on the global music map - at a time when the unruly energy of punk is back driving artistic creation around the world, creation that is unbound by strict rules of genre or place.
