|
So what sort of state does South African music find itself in these days? Well, let’s put it this way… do you still know you’re listening to a South African song when it plays on the radio? Or do you just think to yourself “Man, this is a lekker song!” Obviously when you hear an Afrikaans song or a kwaito number, you’d be pretty safe in assuming it’s a local song… not because of the production mind you… purely the language or typical SA sound giving it away. That’s why one has to ask oneself why SA bands are still battling to crack the international market? Take Just Jinjer, fresh from a think scrum where it was decided to change their name from Just Ginger to Just Jinjer so as to not confuse the US market. At least they’re in good company… even Robbie Williams hasn’t managed to make an impact stateside.
But presented with this, their latest offering, our American friends should really catch a wake-up. After 10 years of producing hit after hit, these days the band consists of Ard Matthews on lead vocals, Brent Harris on drums, Sandy Chila on guitar and keyboard and Denholm Harding on base. Inbetween coming up with the material for their new album, they’ve been holding gigs at places like The Viper Room, the Marina Room and the Temple Bar to name a few. Although the 100-strong crowd does consist of a few ex-pats missing their Mrs Balls too much, the majority of the crowd is made up of Americans brave enough to admit that R&B and hiphop might not be all it’s made out to be. According to Matthews the one thing they decided right from the word go is not to adopt an American sound. There are enough American rock bands doing their thing the way Americans like it. So maybe the uniqueness will pay off. Lead single from this album, “What He Means,” has so much going for it. Some feel-good songs try so hard to make you buy into the lyrics and way of thinking of the band, but this effortlessly just wins you over. “Peace, love, more tolerance. Faith, hope, trust in the same God in whose name we die for…”
And later “…and it doesn’t matter what Book you read.” How can you not smile at that guy who cut you off in traffic when you listen to this?
Other songs with HIT written all over them include “Till I’m done” and “Time of your life.” And in case you didn’t get some of their previous releases, you’ll also find reworked versions of “Home,” “She Knows” and “Here’s to you.” In a week where the focus will be on South African music, feel free to support our local talent and buy this CD. Or, wait a week or two and then buy it simply because it’s damn good music and not because you’re feeling in any way guilty for downloading international songs from the net all the time.
|
