IzangoMa, South Africa’s Avant-Garde Collective, Signs with Brownswood Recordings and Announces Debut Album Release with New Single

IzangoMa, a dynamic 15-piece experimental collective from Pretoria, South Africa, has just announced the release of their highly-anticipated debut album, ‘Ngo Ma’. Set to drop on May 26, 2023, the album will be available in digital and 12” double vinyl formats on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings label. The news comes alongside the release of IzangoMa’s latest single, also titled ‘Ngo Ma’, which can be streamed on all platforms.

Although IzangoMa is a new name in the music industry, the group’s roots date back to 2016 when core members Sibusile Xaba (vox/keys) and Ashley Kgabo (synths/snare drum/drum machine) met and formed a creative bond that allowed Xaba to explore a different side of his virtuosic talent. The result is IzangoMa’s unique sound, which blends Cosmic sgubhu with the alchemic powers of Sun Ra and township styles ranging from pantsula to bubblegum.

The album’s title, ‘Ngo Ma’, translates from Zulu to English as ‘by my mother’ and explores themes of creation through the all-knowing feminine energy that transcends time and space. IzangoMa’s music is a big band-style transmission of spiritual chants, healing harmonies, and electro-analogue sonics that revolt against a revolution yet to be finalized.

The ensemble is a collaboration between Mozambican and South African musicians, with Xaba stating that he had the idea of working with his students from Mozambique. “When I first met them [during exchange workshops], they were young men. We’d return every year to find these great human beings growing into these phenomenal musicians. We felt like it would be nice to incorporate them into this thing that we were doing,” he explains.

The album is a collective effort, with Xaba and Kgabo forming the backbone while the kaleidoscopic collective feeds into the cycle that expands each time, adding something new on each iteration. The album is a cry to The Spiritual Mother about the discordant lives that many people lead. It pays homage to our parentages, remembering that they are living ancestors and the first and direct link to The Creator.

With ‘Ngo Ma’, IzangoMa has created a truly unique and mesmerizing sound that is sure to captivate audiences worldwide. The album’s release is highly anticipated, and fans can’t wait to hear what this innovative collective has in store.