If you took my advice and indulged in Bongeziwe Mabandla’s 2020 album iimini (which is sitting pretty at 8 million streams, and has garnered praise from the likes of Sam Smith and Florence Pugh), you might be familiar with “Masiziyekelele”. If not, I suggest you head back and indulge a little before you move on with your life.
With a minimalistic and freshly acoustic take on “Masiziyekelele”, Mabandla pits the emotive ballad of a track against the autumnal backdrop of Nirox Sculpture Park in his newest video. Serving as an exhibition of just how multi-faceted his sound is, Mabandla strips things right down to a lone guitar and the lilting affectation of his vocalism.
Directed and edited by Tiago Correia-Paulo, with Rick Joaquim as DOP (who also shot Mabandla’s SAMA-nominated video for “Bawo Wam”), the visual elevates the track above and beyond the Afro-pop beat of the original, to drive the central call of the song home. Simplicity rules the screen and sound alike. Feather-light, expertly balanced and driven home with emotive candour and a pitching falsetto vocal.
It’s a love song: a clarion call for lovers to let it all go and collide into one – and it’s rivetingly, achingly beautiful.
