Nakhane

Nakhane – You Will Not Die (2018)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 47:20 minutes | 564 MB | Genre: Art Rock, Indie Pop
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BMG Rights Mgmt France SARL

The music festival Les Transmusicales de Rennes wasn’t wrong in 2017: Nakhane is a great revelation that deserves to be in the spotlight! With a deep, enveloping, feline voice and a calm and always laughing charm straight down from Mount Olympus, Nakhane is quite a magician. One who growls, whispers and is completely comfortable no matter where he goes. Writer (Piggy Boy’s Blues, 2015), actor (The Wound, 2018), singer-songwriter-composer, multi-instrumentalist, Nakhane keeps on adding strings to his bow. Far removed from his first album Brave Confusion (2013) on which Ali Farka Touré’s influence was omnipresent, even in his former stage name – Nakhane Touré −, this second album is more intimate, with electro and soul coexisting side by side. With its slow tempos on sentimental interludes (Violent Measures, You Will Not Die), dazzling electro flashes filled with gleaming synthesisers (in the hit-worthy Clairvoyant) and 80s vibes (Interloper), You Will Not Die won’t fail to move the listener with its high sensuality, always on the verge of hatching.

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Nakhane – Bastard Jargon (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 38:29 minutes | 438 MB | Genre: Pop, Female Vocal
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © BMG Rights Mgmt France SARL

A multi-talented, non-binary South African artist (musician, novelist, actor), Nakhane caused a stir in 2019 with the release of You Will Not Die. At the age of 30 they’d only just cut ties with their strict, homophobic Christian upbringing, and the album reflected the violent struggle they’d endured escaping that hell. They’ve since moved to London and embarked on “the simple desire to feel good.” It’s with this serene state of mind that they’ve approached this album. It’s predominantly electronic but incorporates elements of glam rock, soul and traditional music. In many of the tracks on Bastard Jargon, Nakhane pushes hedonism to the forefront, to the point of making it a fully-fledged political statement. In Tell Me Your Politik (Feat. Moonchild Sanelly and Nile Rodgers), they warn, “You can touch me if you want to, but first of all tell me your politik.” However, this overt militancy is counterbalanced with softer tracks such as The Conjecture and Do You Well (feat. Perfume Genius). Listeners will also love the bewitching lyricism of My Ma Was Good and You’ve Got Me. This is an imaginative and revealing album from an artist who’s even managed to catch the attention of Madonna and Elton John! – Nicolas Magenham

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