Desire Marea Drops New EP 'The Baddies Of Isandlwana'

South Africa-based artist Desire Marea releases a new EP, The Baddies of Isandlwana, via Mute.

Praised by the New York Times as “a propulsive three-song EP that encompasses his ambitious creative scope”, the new EP follows a tour that saw Desire Marea and his band on the road for the first time since an appearance at Grace Jones’ Meltdown festival in London, performing a series of incendiary shows across Europe and the UK.

Desire describes the new EP as “…a trio of songs inspired by my time living in Amandawe, KZN. It’s an infusion of sounds that dominate nightlife in SA such as Gqom, Amapiano and Afrobeat. The EP is symbolic of a time when I was trying to find myself in the world I occupied, which extended to my ongoing quest to find myself in history, hence the title.” 

The title refers to the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana, the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu war which ended with a decisive victory for the Zulus, and it was this search for himself in history that prompted Desire to contemplate the lives of the LGBT+ soldiers in the Zulu army.

Featuring live favorite “The Only Way”, the orchestral gqom of “If You Know” and the previously-unheard track “Tholakele”, the EP is available to listen to HERE.

Additionally, the brilliant video for “Be Free” has been nominated for “Best Produced Pop Video” at the South African Music Awards (SAMA’s) as well as On The Romance Of Being nominated for “Best Alternative Album.”

Desire Marea’s voice is a culmination of many South African voices, a mouthpiece for a choir of spirits and entities. In recent years, the Amandawe based artist trained as Sangoma, a traditional Nguni spiritual healer. On his second album, 2023’s On the Romance of Being, Desire finds himself immersed in the communal, ceremonial and healing qualities of music, sonically taking in post-gospel, spiritual jazz and the ancient music of the Nguni and Ndau peoples.

Desire, his 2020 debut album, was one of Rough Trade’s Albums of the Year and BBC 6 Music’s Album of the Day. The album traversed electronic genres in an introspective exploration of modern love and loss, drawing in fans from across the globe.

Before his solo career, Desire formed beloved Joburg collective FAKA with creative partner Fela Gucci. FAKA toured the world extensively, made their American debut scoring for Telfar at NYFW, achieved icon status by partnering with Versace to soundtrack their S/S 2019 menswear show and were featured in the Vogue World 100 and Dazed 100 lists.

photo credit: Izzie Austin

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