Desire Marea

 

Desire’s solo eponymous debut in 2020 traversed a multitude of electronic genres from left-field to jazz and Gqom (a Durban-based electronic style) in an introspective, sensitive exploration of African queerness, love and loss. On the second album, On The Romance of Being, Desire Marea elicits a sonic conversation between the collective, ceremonial and healing forces of music.

Throughout the last two years, the artist trained as Sangoma, a traditional Nguni spiritual healer, transforming into a musician who heals people using music. Texts on ritual practices in music and club culture proliferate, and the essential message is: rave is not a religion. No doctrine, no bureaucratic leadership, no practical rules exist as long as you show respect for the people and spaces around you. This is, in essence, the philosophy of On the Romance of Being –  a live album featuring a 13-piece band and many first-takes. The band includes jazz pioneers Sibusiso Mashiloane and Sbu Zondi, as well as Portia Sibiya, Andrei Van Wyk and Sanele Ngubane, prominent actors in South Africa’s experimental music circles. Together they take a leap to swooning orchestral soul sprawling post-gospel, spiritual jazz and the ancient music of the Nguni and Ndau peoples.