Across our continent and since time immemorial, from north to south, east to west, Africans have and continue to seek expression through music, singing, poetry and dancing. We are sensitive to 'tones' because most of our languages are tonal and share a belief that the sounds of our natural surroundings (of birds, beasts, insects, trees, rain, thunder) are 'songs' of the wild.
South African singer and songwriter, Andre Swiegers, bought his first guitar in 1974 and despite a life's journey interrupted by significant but necessary detours, has remained true to his calling, a natural inclination to express himself through music. Singing and composing in both his native Afrikaans and English, Andre's albums were released after democratisation in South Africa in 1994 and the songs he had written over the years, were recorded by among others, one-hit wonder group, Coleske, 'Take Me Where The Sun is Shining', and South African party band, Mean Mister Mustard.
This year, in August 2013, his 11th and most significant album, 'Ghost Train' (2013), was released. In keeping with continental tolerance for 'differences and variety', music genres on the African continent are exceptionally diverse; enter Andre Swiegers, who classifies himself as a folk-rock singer / songwriter inspired by Western folk musicians, most notably 'The Beatles', 'The Rolling Stones' and 'The Beach Boys'. It's a self-limiting label made small, when forced to stand upright next to the quality of the music available on 'Ghost Train'.
(Album cover: Ghost Train)
Swiegers adopted the traditional Western folk-rock format of three to four musicians, for his live performances. Folk-rock is a genre flexible enough to encompass a variety of themes and topics, sweeping broadly, and lightly, across issues affecting the contemporary human experience. It's not limited to ceremonies, events and occasions like traditional or classical African folk music, but considered acceptable at most Western cultural events since the 1960s.
During the course of Western history, singers / songwriters of 'protest music' used traditional Western folk music as vehicle to highlight and emphasise troubling trends in social dialogue (e.g. war, peace, abuse, racism, poverty, environment, etc.) and it is still used for the same purpose by many notable contemporary folk-rock musicians, as a form of criticism and protest.
On his latest album, Andre Swiegers wrote and composed a protest song named 'Help The People', and apart from the excellent first track, 'Ghost Train', there's a plea in the song directed at his audience, and society as a whole. 'Help The People' is the veritable blood of the album, amazingly straightforward in its directive. Beating softly behind the lines of every song, pulsating inaudibly like the human heart, his message runs like a small summer stream throughout the entire album.
'Feel It' is a 'blues' sort of song and it is a truly beautiful piece of work, well-balanced, perfectly-timed and meaningful beyond the lyrics. It should be noted that this song in particular, an illustration of a surprising sensitivity to tones, is what makes Swiegers most persuasive, and he does so, without realising it. There are subtle environmental and cultural influences but it is overall with particular regard to tone, and its uneven distribution across the album, that I genuinely doubt he realises how good he is as an African folk-rock musician, and what a great song 'Feel It' really is. This is seriously not a track to be messed with and the temptation is great to keep pressing 'repeat'.
'Ghost Train' will be available for retail at major outlets in 2014 and is currently for sale online, retailing for between N$90 - N$100.00. For more information, Andre Swiegers can be contacted via his Facebook page: Andre Swiegers.
South African singer and songwriter, Andre Swiegers, bought his first guitar in 1974 and despite a life's journey interrupted by significant but necessary detours, has remained true to his calling, a natural inclination to express himself through music. Singing and composing in both his native Afrikaans and English, Andre's albums were released after democratisation in South Africa in 1994 and the songs he had written over the years, were recorded by among others, one-hit wonder group, Coleske, 'Take Me Where The Sun is Shining', and South African party band, Mean Mister Mustard.
This year, in August 2013, his 11th and most significant album, 'Ghost Train' (2013), was released. In keeping with continental tolerance for 'differences and variety', music genres on the African continent are exceptionally diverse; enter Andre Swiegers, who classifies himself as a folk-rock singer / songwriter inspired by Western folk musicians, most notably 'The Beatles', 'The Rolling Stones' and 'The Beach Boys'. It's a self-limiting label made small, when forced to stand upright next to the quality of the music available on 'Ghost Train'.
(Album cover: Ghost Train)
Swiegers adopted the traditional Western folk-rock format of three to four musicians, for his live performances. Folk-rock is a genre flexible enough to encompass a variety of themes and topics, sweeping broadly, and lightly, across issues affecting the contemporary human experience. It's not limited to ceremonies, events and occasions like traditional or classical African folk music, but considered acceptable at most Western cultural events since the 1960s.
During the course of Western history, singers / songwriters of 'protest music' used traditional Western folk music as vehicle to highlight and emphasise troubling trends in social dialogue (e.g. war, peace, abuse, racism, poverty, environment, etc.) and it is still used for the same purpose by many notable contemporary folk-rock musicians, as a form of criticism and protest.
On his latest album, Andre Swiegers wrote and composed a protest song named 'Help The People', and apart from the excellent first track, 'Ghost Train', there's a plea in the song directed at his audience, and society as a whole. 'Help The People' is the veritable blood of the album, amazingly straightforward in its directive. Beating softly behind the lines of every song, pulsating inaudibly like the human heart, his message runs like a small summer stream throughout the entire album.
'Feel It' is a 'blues' sort of song and it is a truly beautiful piece of work, well-balanced, perfectly-timed and meaningful beyond the lyrics. It should be noted that this song in particular, an illustration of a surprising sensitivity to tones, is what makes Swiegers most persuasive, and he does so, without realising it. There are subtle environmental and cultural influences but it is overall with particular regard to tone, and its uneven distribution across the album, that I genuinely doubt he realises how good he is as an African folk-rock musician, and what a great song 'Feel It' really is. This is seriously not a track to be messed with and the temptation is great to keep pressing 'repeat'.
'Ghost Train' will be available for retail at major outlets in 2014 and is currently for sale online, retailing for between N$90 - N$100.00. For more information, Andre Swiegers can be contacted via his Facebook page: Andre Swiegers.
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