ESINAM and Sibulsile Xaba preview their forthcoming debut album with a single that blends influences from their respective cultures with a healthy dose of Afro-roots-electro and spiritual jazz.
Release Date: 14th February 2025
Label: W.E.R.F.
Formats: Digital
A TASTY APPETISER
Sometimes, you’re served an appetiser that makes you drool like a Pavlovian dog in eager anticipation of what’s to follow. That’s very much the case with Ready To Love, the new single from pan-African duo ESINAM and Sibulsile Xaba. The single is a prelude to the duo’s forthcoming debut album, Healing Voices, scheduled for release on 25th April. On the evidence of this snippet, that’s an album that we can hardly wait to get stuck into.
ESINAM and Sibusile have been working together for over two-an-a-half years, so it’s reasonable to suggest that an album might now be overdue. There’s already been one taster of the treats to come. 2024 single Africa Wola has been widely acclaimed and there are no doubts that similar plaudits will rain down, once the listening public get their lips around Ready To Love.
ESINAM & SIBUSILE XABA
For anyone unfamiliar with the duo, ESINAM has Belgian-Ghanaian roots, whilst Sibusile’s ancestry is Kwazzulu Natal-South African. They’re both multi-instrumentalists and their music draws deeply from their respective cultures, taking in influences from Afro-roots-electro and spiritual jazz along the way. And – you know what? – it’s a delicious mix!
ESINAM elaborates: “We make music as art, we make music as medicine. These songs are created with a strong connection to our soul and the music of our ancestors. When I play this music, I feel better. It is a musical collection of rhythms and melodies that touch my heart and soul; sounds of healing voices, musically charged with authenticity and creative inspiration.”
That’s a statement that makes absolute sense when it’s read and absorbed after hearing the music. So are the words of Sibulsile, when she adds: “Healing voices [the album] explores freedom and unconditional love as the two primary elements of healing. We hope these sonic gestures touch everyone’s hearts as they listen. The songs came to us effortlessly, demonstrating that music has its own agenda. We couldn’t help but listen, receive and share with the world. the beauty and depth of the album is full of respect and humility. Every melody is surrounded by good vibes and movements of confidence in every moment of creativity.”
READY TO LOVE
Indeed, Healing Voices is shaping up to be one of the year’s pivotal albums. Ready To Love is just the song to reinforce that message. It’s percussion-rich, jazzy, soulful and funky. ESINAM’s lyrics are sung in one of the indigenous Ghanaian languages as bass and drums weave their magic. Sibulsile’s dreamy vocals reprise the song’s central message: “Ready to love, ready to share, ready to go, ready to let it flow.”
Ready To Love is magical and the REALLY joyful news is that there’s a whole album of this, waiting just around the corner…
Get a taste of what’s to come from ESINAM & Sibulsile Zaba. Listen to Africa Wola, the first single to be taken from the forthcoming Healing Voices album – here:
ESINAM & Sibulsile Xaba online: Instagram / Bandcamp
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