Warm Heart of Africa by The Very Best
LABEL: Green Owl

In 2008, a British team of producers joined forces with a vibrant Malawian singer to create a mixtape. The foreign yet soulful vocals mixed nicely with the bright remixes and original tracks. And that’s the end of the story. Or, that should have been the end of the story in any normal situation. It just so happens that in this case, the mixtape caught the ears of the Internet. And the Internet liked it. Understandably, this meant critical acclaim and enjoyment from Indier-than-thou web surfers all over the world. They simply would not shut up about Esau Mwamwaya’s engaging vocal delivery or the seamless punch of Radioclit’s musical mixes.

What started as a one-off project suddenly became a band, one that lifted Radioclit from musical obscurity and Mwamwaya from the second-hand furniture store he was working in. The critical buzz surrounding the mixtape catapulted them into the Indie spotlight, although their collaborations with Vampire Weekend, M.I.A., BLK JKS and Ruby Suns might have helped a bit, too.

“‘Kamphopo’ manages to take the steel drum, an instrument I have grown to hate over years of forced exposure to it at my workplace, and turn it into a glimmering and melodic sample that I can’t help falling in love with.”

Their newest effort, Warm Heart Of Africa, isn’t entirely different. Mwamwaya’s voice still radiates a sort of tribal beauty, especially with the layering evident on this album. The masterful musicality shines yet again, sounding like world music at a rave or disco in the Congo. The only notable difference between Esau Mwamwaya and Radioclit Are The Very Best (the aforementioned mixtape) and Warm Heart Of Africa is the tone; The latter has a much more concentrated and connected feel to it, which contrasts the former’s penchant for deep bass and drum loops. This can probably be attributed to Warm Heart’s creation as a proper album instead of another remix-heavy release.

At the heart of it all, the band’s appeal has to be in their ridiculously fun and catchy songs. “Kamphopo” manages to take the steel drum, an instrument I have grown to hate over years of forced exposure to it at my workplace, and turn it into a glimmering and melodic sample that I can’t help falling in love with. And on the oft-buzzed about title track, Vampire Weekend again contributes, but this time it’s a vocal track of front man Ezra Koenig instead of the familiar “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” riff. Koenig’s appearance helped build steam for the album release and simultaneously created a dangerously catchy hook. It sort of makes sense that collaborations are so welcome in their work. After all, the band did start as a simple collaboration. Perhaps this is their way of paying homage to the importance of working together. There’s a lesson there, kids.


REVIEWED BY RAYMOND CHALMÉ
RAYMOND'S 3 FAVORITE TRACKS: “Kada Manja” • “Kamphopo” • “Warm Heart Of Africa”
Read more from Raymond on his blog, Warm Tape.