On the first volume of the new Hen House Records series, Sounds of Malawi, there is abundance. The artist lineup is generationally and stylistically diverse. The music is recorded with the utmost care. It indicates the continuance of a contemporary expansion of globally accessible representations of the titular southeast African nation. In recent years, Madalitso Band and the Kasambwe Brothers have taken their DIY instruments and social commentary to the world through commercial releases, live performances, and, in Madalitso’s case, a documentary film.
Singer-songwriter Keturah’s self-titled 2023 Hen House debut paired her warm voice with roots and pop sounds. If these artists were the first winds of change in terms of Malawian music’s place in the world, though, Sounds of Malawi is a fresh and welcome gale.
Organized by Malawian ethnomusicologist and artist Waliko Makhala, nonprofit Jacaranda Foundation director Luc Deschamps, and producer Harlan Steinberger, the album’s recording sessions in Blantyre, Malawi’s second-largest city, were conducted to give studio access to as many local musicians as possible. While the first volume offers only a slice of the 18 bands’ output, Sounds of Malawi is full, thoughtfully made, and a great listen from start to finish. In addition to the more internationally known artists here, including the aforementioned Kasambwe Brothers and Keturah, there is a mix of young and old artists from across the country.
Makhala’s own “Moto Wayaka” is a blues- and brass-tinged opener with scintillating guitar work and earthy voice. Well-established actress Eunice puts her strong voice to jazzy, stripped-down instrumentation on powerful “Uchindere”. The vocals on Kefasi’s soulful “Iwe Mwana” have a youthful clarity, and 95-year-old Geddes Chalamanda glows with well-worn joy singing “Liny Ho”. Such details yield a rich collective soundscape.
Some of the individual tracks here can be heard as microcosmic examples of the record’s ideals. A particular standout is the astounding “Thandekile”, a duet between singers Nyago, whose music draws on healing ritual sounds from northern Malawi, and Keturah. Both women have stunning voices, resonant and powerful, with timbres that complement each other for their differences.
They come together in unison over solid synths and acoustic instruments almost supernaturally enhanced by electronic effects. To hear the taut lines of Nyago’s delivery against the gliding contours of Keturah’s, the sweep of flutes into perfect and unreal echoes, is a transcendent experience. It parallels a key strength of the album as a whole: the thoroughness with which it explores a wide spectrum of artistic perspectives.
The 14 songs of Sounds of Malawi Vol. 1 are not meant to define Malawian music, but to expand our sense of what that is. Like much of the postcolonial Global South, Malawi is a nation that is often described in the mainstream press in terms of economic and developmental lack. Here, on the other hand, Makhala, Deschamps, and Steinberger have curated a showcase of contemporary artists to focus our collective senses and attention on presence and life. This work connects, bringing global audiences to a new understanding of creativity in Malawi. It deserves to be the first of many.