Maputo, Cape Town and Dar es Salaam; these are three places where John Wizards band leader and producer John Withers has either travelled through or lived in, and all have had a marked influence on his music. They also happen to be the cities in which Emmanuel Nzaramba, the group's Rwandan singer, has lived. Withers and Nzaramba met a few years ago, while the latter was working as a car guard outside a coffee shop. He noticed Withers had a guitar strapped to his back, and they began to talk about music. Withers says, "He told me that he had moved from Rwanda to Cape Town to become a musician, and I told him that I had been writing music that required vocals. We didn't get around to recording. Emmanuel quit his job, lost his cellphone, and moved...." A year later in 2012 Withers had moved to a new apartment, a place on Loop Street, when he ran into Nzaramba again--they happened to be living in the same street. Nzaramba liked the new songs he had written and Withers would invite him over to sing on them after work. The duo has since grown into a band and recorded an album that gently but persuasively gets under your skin on the strength of its lovely melodies and strong, smart arrangements. It is a brilliant combination of traditional African music, R&B and chamber pop, filtered through gentle electronic arrangements that cross-pollinate with South African house, Shangaan Electro and dub, and it's the sort of music that effortlessly captivates with its beauty and richness.
