{"id":2136,"date":"2021-08-14T20:07:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-14T19:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/?p=2136"},"modified":"2021-08-14T20:13:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-14T19:13:44","slug":"2-cardigans-bowtie-new-single-umkhathi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/2-cardigans-bowtie-new-single-umkhathi\/","title":{"rendered":"A million RPM \u2013 The Slow-cook Groove of 2 Cardigans & Bowtie’s New Single, Umkhathi"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Umkaithi actually means space and the song\u2019s sonic landscape is smattered with tasteful bass licks,\u00a0driving brass, and transitions that flow naturally into each other, like a great river basin welcoming\u00a0home its many tributaries.<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

\u2014 Shaun O’Neill<\/p>\n

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Johannesburg-based ethno-jazz R&B ensemble 2 Cardigans and Bowtie<\/strong><\/a> released their debut\u00a0single, Umkhathi, on May 31. The five-piece are founding member Nkululeko Biyana on bass,\u00a0Utsukushii Likwidskillz on vocals, InkosiKhethiwe \u201cKing Khethiwe\u201d Mdlalose on drums\/vocals,\u00a0Moeketsi \u201cMacsou\u201d Tshabalala on keys and synths and Liziwe \u201cZiwe\u201d Fihlani on alto sax. 2020 has\u00a0been far from easy but they did manage to feature on a Zimbabwean online series called \u201cWorking\u00a0Wives\u201d, and performed at the annual OR and Adelaide Tambo youth Debate. This single titled\u00a0Umkaithi precedes the new album which will be available in early 2022.<\/h5>\n

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Umkaithi actually means space and the song\u2019s sonic landscape is smattered with tasteful bass licks,\u00a0driving brass, and transitions that flow naturally into each other, like a great river basin welcoming\u00a0home its many tributaries. The rap\/hip\/hop vocal delivery is both reminiscent of the soulful social
\ncommentary of Lauren Hill and Wyclef Jean-era Fugees, while also remaining distinctly and\u00a0proudly rooted in South Africa and the beautiful kaleidoscope of continental influences that have\u00a0coloured the palate of the group.<\/h5>\n

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The lyrics are peppered with symbolism and references to nature, wildlife, the hunt, the hunted \u2013\u00a0but there are some curveballs thrown in that illicit confusion.<\/h5>\n

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\u201cI be acute like a sniper<\/em><\/strong>
\nMore venomous and tedious than mambas or a viper<\/em><\/strong>
\nOr rapists taking showers\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

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The fusion of the sax and synths for the chorus melds powerfully to lift us to its heady musical\u00a0climax. Now that our lives might finally return to some semblance of \u201cnormality\u201d, maybe we might\u00a0be better taking a leaf out of the band\u2019s lyric book and enjoying a \u201cdeep drink\u201d from the \u201ctree of\u00a0life\u201d. God knows we\u2019ve earned it. I look forward to hearing the band\u2019s new album in the coming\u00a0months to find out what other styles and influences they have up their musical sleeves.<\/h5>\n

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2 Cardigans & Bowtie\u00a0is on Krak\u00f3w Music<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Shout African, alto-sax, Ethan Smith
\n<\/strong>on 2 Cardigans & Bowtie’s new single<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Ethan Smith
\nis on Krak\u00f3w Music<\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Space\u2026 \u201cUmkhathi\u201d, the latest single release by\u00a02 Cardigans & Bowtie\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0sees the group presenting their universal message of travel, transcendence and transformation at a trajectory of\u00a0a million RPM and a hundred light years<\/i>. The musical elements are unmistakably representative of the Afro Pop and Afro Hip Hop genres. As a South African myself, I found \u201cUmkhathi\u201d reminiscent of the music of artist such as Andile Yenana<\/a><\/span>, Zim Ngqawana<\/a><\/span>, and Marcus Wyatt<\/a> <\/span>(especially the brass and wind arrangements toward the middle and latter end of the song), with the lyric and poetic feel reminiscent of Lebo Mashile<\/a><\/span>.<\/strong><\/span> And as a South African that now lives abroad, I found the track a very welcomed reminder of the music from home.<\/h5>\n

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Listen to the new single by 2 Cardigans & Bowtie, a South African-based five piece blending hip-hop and jazz. Read the review and the commentary by compatriot, alto-sax Ethan Smith. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"A million RPM: The Slow-cook Groove of 2 Cardigans & Bowtie\u2019s New Single, Umkhathi | Krak\u00f3w Music","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[33],"tags":[288,290,289,283,34,282],"class_list":["post-2136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music-reviews","tag-2-cardigans-bowtie","tag-afro-hip-hop","tag-afro-pop","tag-hip-hop","tag-jazz","tag-south-africa"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-30 21:29:12","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2136"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2199,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2136\/revisions\/2199"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krakowmusic.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}