Incredibly, the Zamrock icons WITCH have returned with their first new album in almost 40 years. Aptly titled Zango after a phrase meaning meeting place, the group’s two core remaining members, Emmanuel ‘Jagari’ Chanda and Patrick Mwondela have gotten back to their roots, even recording in the same studio their 1975 album Lazy Bones had been made in some 46 years prior.
For those unfamiliar with WITCH’s story, We Intend To Cause Havoc rose to soaring fame in their home country of Zambia and Southern Africa in the late ’60s/early ’70s, delivering a truly unique mix of rock that saw Jagari filter his love for The Rolling Stones and The Beatles through a distinctly African lens; creating some of the most interesting garage-psych out there. Their unique blending of styles still engages as the elder statesmen Mwondela and Jagari are joined by a younger, international backing band for this unlikely new album.
Dutch artists, multi-instrumentalist Jacco Gardner, drummer Nico Mauskoviç (Mauskoviç Dance Band), Bulgarian guitarist Stefan Lilov (L’Eclair), and German guitarist ‘JJ’ Whitefield (Poets of Rhythm) all join the Zambian’s for this ride as the music has less of frantic rock energy and more of a laid back easy rolling sound, but still manages to brilliantly get after it at times.
The opening “By The Time You Realize” delivers the band’s cool psych-rock style with a clear reggae influence as the band shifts, stutters and bops along. An afrobeat influence plays major parts on the funky “Waile” as well as on “Nshingilile” and the hometown saluting anthem “Streets of Lusaka”. The backing vocals of Theresa Ng’ambi & Hanna Tembo are showcased throughout the album, but they move to the forefront on the keyboard-led, disco-infused “Unimvwesha Shuga”.
While all of these tracks are admirable, Zango really picks up steam over its second half, starting with two album highlights. The first is “Avalanche of Love” which features the new Zambian rapper Sampa the Great, connecting the Zamrock past to the hip-hop present with a gritty sound, deep bass, percussion, and great riffs. Next up is the multilayered, elongated “Malango” which excellently deploys wah, polyrhythms, nuanced playing, and bright percussion in an intriguing fashion.
“Stop The Rot” lays down a good groove and riff before pushing forward with driving beats and a heavy tempo to end before “These Eyes Of Mine” recall a tripped-out Stones ballad combined with being high at a Zambian beach at sundown. The lovely sentiments expressed in the album closer “Message From W.I.T.C.H” state it is all about love and the revitalized band proves that throughout Zango.
Just having any recording resurgence is a win for WITCH, but these songs, while more polished, hold up with the band’s original catalog. Hopefully, the grooving Zango exposes WITCH to a whole new generation of fans as Zamrock rides again.
