Release Radar: First Sakawa Boys’ music in eight years sounds a pathway “Out of the Dark”
The first music in eight years from South Africa’s Sakawa Boys sounds a pathway out of the dark that shadows most of us at some point in our lives.
Titled “Out of the Dark”, it is a relentless, compulsively listenable track that dials up the group’s signature mix of post-punk, indie, shoegaze and pop to 2024. It’s also the title of a new Sakawa Boys album, due out on The Good Times Co on (28 June) - and only the second full-length from this Cape Town-based quartet comprising John Seth (vocals and guitar), Peter Scott (drums), Skye MacInnes (guitar) and Keenan Oakes (bass).
“For years, pretty much since childhood, I have suffered from a recurring nightmare” says co-songwriter Seth. “The song is about that period of wakefulness immediately after a vivid dream - where you are not quite sure what is real and what isn’t.
“When we went into an imposed lockdown because of Covid I found myself more and more frequently reflecting on weird, embarrassing, awful memories. It was almost as though with nobody to see and nothing to do, my brain would reach back and remind me of the craziest dumbest shit I had done like 15 years ago and I would lie in bed cringing away.
“This song is about trying to break out of that state of mind. Finding a way Out of the Dark. It’s also about over-analysing - inevitably nobody really thinks about shit you have done half as much as you do yourself.”
Sakawa Boys began in late 2013 and blossomed into a musical project that played live and released music in the years between 2013-2017. Named for the infamous Ghanaian email scammers, from the outset the band’s ambition has been to seek out a sonic identity which honoured their favoured musical traditions without becoming derivative.
The four-piece makes good on that promise with new music that is being released after a period of inactivity for the past seven years, brought about by multiple reasons. The sound of Sakawa Boys circa 2024 is therefore also the sound of the coming back together of individuals who are inextricably drawn to making music together as a way out of their personal and collective darkness.
