Sun-El Musician is easily one of the most recognisable names in the African house music space. Since his rise in 2017, on the back of “Akanamali” his collaboration with Samthing Soweto, Sun-El has been at the forefront of the house music movement. Not only with innovative production, but captivating sets that have seen him playing at some of the continent’s biggest platforms.
Now well over a decade into his music career, the DJ/producer is very much a veteran but still a creative with something new to offer, and his most recent offering, Under The Sun, does exactly that.
The producer’s third studio album is one that has been sometime in the making. It is his first release in 4 years, and it arrives under Sun-El’s own record label, Under Da Sun. There is a weight of expectation on it, driven both by return and renewal that his previous works didn’t have. His debut album Africa to the World arrived in 2018, then its successor To the World & Beyond came in 2020, followed by African Electronic Dance Music in 2021.
In Under The Sun, Sun-El Musician brings together flavours from all his previous works and more. It is a coalescing of his artistic identity, tinged with the desire to explore. The producer has a cast of collaborators that include Thakzin, Heavy-K, Ami Faku, Tefo Foxx, Deborah Cox, Mthunzi, Jordan Arts, Mpho.Wav, Zakes Bantwini, Skye Wanda and more.
As always the 17 track project is propelled by melody, yet it shakes off any banner of genre. It is Afro house in some moments, EDM in others, 3-step when that fits and sometimes a combination of all the above. In that same breath it also ventures into different languages: English, IsiZulu, Setswana and ChiVenda.
“iLembe” centres the tribal, with Mnqobi Yazo’s Zulu poetry at the heart of it. “Umlayezo” wades into the soulful with the vocal talents of Ami Faku and Mthunzi. While “Koyika” and “Love Is Love” are progressive but carrying some of that energy Sun-El Musician is known for.
Under The Sun is music you want to singalong to, a clearly intentional element of it by the producer. This is present in “Angeke,” “Nguwe,” “Monna Hela,” “Another Minute,” and “I’ll Be There (For You).” Then when the album is not driving you to sing it is littered with infectious rhythm and driving you to motion. This is evident in tracks like “Umlungu Wami,” “Into The Night,” “Imali,” and “The Rise.”
In its poignant ending “Music,” which features Nasty C, Lorine Chia and Touchline, the album offers up an ode to our dreams (Sun-El & Co’s being music) and all that comes with chasing them. It is a calm serenade but a firm exclamation point and in someway it helps us understand what it took for the 17 tracks that allow us to see Sun-El Musician succesfully redefines himself.
Under The Sun tells us that some things are well worth the wait, just it was for house music fans. It is a celebration of all that lies under the sun and a revelation of what is within Sun-El.
House rating: 8.8/10
