Celebrating our planet

SERVED: UMCULO'S DEBUT ALBUM STRIKES ALL THE RIGHT NOTES

- Hein Kaiser

Music can be like a badly blended cup of coffee. It's either too bitter or too bland, missing a balance of flavours and textures. But Steve Umculo has mastered the art of blending a brew with his debut album, Elements.

Like a solid roast of coffee, his fusion of Afro-based rhythms with folk melodies strikes just the right note, creating an album that's both fresh and familiar, alive with flavour and a great aftertaste.

Umculo's Elements took five years to make, shaped by the physical world, human emotions and the sounds that have influenced his life.

"The album celebrates the physical elements of the earth, the emotional elements that make us human and the musical elements that have influenced my journey," Umculo said.

From uplifting anthems to introspective ballads, each track takes listeners on a sonic adventure that mirrors life itself, he said. Raw, rhythmic and connected.

Blending Afro-based rhythms and folk was not happenstance. It was a deliberate labour of love that saw its genesis in 2016 when Umculo moved to Spain. It was there, missing home, that his sound began to take shape.