Nakhane Mahlakahlaka is the latest celebrated South African musician churned out by the Eastern Cape, following on from Thandiswa Mazwai, Simphiwe Dana, Zahara and Bongeziwe Mabandla.
Ths Johannesburg-based singer/songwriter’s lineage is wide-ranging; he adopts Touré as his stage second name in honour of Malian singer and multi-instrumentalist Ali Farka Touré, and there are also traces of Radiohead, Paul Simon and David Bowie on his album Brave Confusion, which couldn’t be more aptly titled. It’s an enigma of a debut, rife with complexities, swathed in a disarming honesty that holds you captive right through his tortured journey to clarity.
South African film-maker Mark Middlewick (Security, A Kosovo Fairytale) directs the video for Fog – Nakhane’s first official one, filmed in a single take.
