My new single, in anticipation of my EP ‘peace places: kenyan memories’ comes out via SA Recordings on January 26th, 2022.

About ‘Equator song’:
On a journey through the county of Laikipia, Kenya, I’d recorded some weaverbirds in a nearby tree, whose vibrant yellow feathers seemed, in a way, a visual juxtaposition to the dissonance of their song. While on this land, where the equator stretches through, I also found myself pondering over another juxtaposition between harmony and disharmony — my own feelings of connection, but also disconnect, to the land, my lineage, and our languages. Wanting to acknowledge the discomfort of expressing in languages that I do not speak, I start in English — “you’ll find my soul on someone’s tongue” — before shifting to Kiswahili. But by the song’s end, hoping that I’ve made peace with this discomfort, I turn to the language of Maa, for it is preserved in the meaning of the name I carry. Steadily, I count in this unfamiliar tongue, tracing the words that many in Laikipia county speak; and perhaps also tracing the words that my ancestors may have spoken.”

Available on Bandcamp, SA Recordings’ Product Store, and on all streaming platforms!

https://orcd.co/nkequatorsong

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