Musician of the moment, talented bassist, song writer and singer Simon Mutambi has released an eye opening seven track album that is set to help people mend their ways of life.
The singer who is now renowned for educative messages in his songs has gone some more gears up in this new album, in which he tackles issues affecting Church leaders and the Church itself.
In a telephone interview Simon Mutambi told me that he was inspired to compose songs on this album by the day to day events in our country and unlike other artists he does not compose songs through dreams.
Whilst some may see the lyrics as controversial the truth is that, this album contains truthful messages that highlights the loop holes in the day to day lives of Christians and also some wayward conduction of the Church business by some greedy Church leaders.
Its rare for a musician to make an album that have both the instruments and lyrics likable ,but in this new offering Mutambi has proved that it can be done.
You can only expect a better production when you allow Producer Bothwell "African" Nyamhondera to put his hands on your works and Mutambi did just that by allowing Veteran Engineer/Producer Bothwell "African" Nyamhondera to work on the production and engineering of this quality Album.
"Zviripasipedenga" meaning whats under the skies is the name of this well polished album that opens with the song Prophet.
I understand why the Cobra Kings leader opted to venture into gospel like songs after he admitted that the Senior Lecture Nicholas Zacharia was the one who helped him kickstart his musical career during the interview.
In this song Mutambi warns those that operate as prophets to desist from using assumptions and other ungodly ways to try and manipulate people into thinking that they are being prophesied.
Mutambi urged prophets to use the Holy Spirit and risk telling people lies if they use their ordinary human eyes to make a prophecy.
In the same song Simomo as he is affectionately known by his followers highlighted that being a Prophet means having a gift of Prophesying something that is God given and cannot be bought or taught.
This song will surely be the one to watch as it has all the ingredients to become the album's hit song.
The guitars and drums in this song offers so much quality to compliment the strong educative and thought provoking lyrics.
In a country where peace means a lot to everyone else ,the talented guitarist emphasized the need for people to maintain cool heads and exercise self discipline in track two "Mhepo yenyika".
For those who have listened to Mutambi this track is one that will take them back to his early days because of the way the guitars were orchestrated in a not so fast tempo.
The artist warned people not to just follow others but to use wisdom and make choices that will not lend them in trouble.
To the believers Mutambi pleaded with them to watch out for the snares of the devil and not lose sight of their ways when faced with temptious people who believe in violence.
In the wake of being provoked he advised everyone not to yield to temptations but to be still and make peace in a wise way. Those who love to dance, this is your track.
This track however ,prompted me to ask Mutambi if he once worked under Somandla Ndebele because of the similarity in the way the track composition was done and he was quick to answer with a NO.
Any parent or guardian will love to play this track three "Pore pore" for their loved ones.
This is certainly a track that carries so much real advice on taking it easy and living in a manner that will not end you up with self inflicted sickness in these era of dangerous killer diseases like Aids.
He further highlighted that it is never easy for one to take advice when they are on top but people should be aware that life can change for the good or the worse anytime hence the need to take advice.
The message here is that too much of anything is not good for anyone.
The rhythmists on this track did their job whole heartedly. Well done guys.
There was too much of bass tempering on this track and using the singer's words, I advice him that too much of anything can ruin a better production.
When I first listened to track 4 , I thought the bass guitar was the best thing on this track because it was struck with vernon but the lyrics surprised me.
"Vatendi" is my personal best. I have already named it "Wolf in sheep skin", very true Mutambi was spot on when he did this song.
People are hiding behind the Church yet conducting evil activities.
In this song Mutambi threw caution to the wind and exposed how thieves and other criminals are hiding behind the Church and asked believers to live by what their beliefs say.
This is a prophetic message on the state of many Churches and also on the conduct of Church members these days.
"Makore afamba" is the fifth track on this album which is quite different from the other six tracks.
This song has its own modified unique beat that will make driving easy moving your head from side to side dancing with your head only ,whilst seated .
The lyrics don't disappoint either. Its a cry to the power that be for success as hardwork seem not to be producing fruits and recognition.
All he is asking for are blessings over his work for him to look after his family.
Everyone on this earth face challenges of some sort and track six Mutambi sings about how the devil comes to destroy without an invite.
There are are many relationships that are destroyed by the devil and the talented guitarist urged people to shame the devil by not giving up even under difficult conditions ,in this slow tempo track. Whilst the lyrics and the message is spot on, I was not impressed by the guitars which are too similar to the ones on another track in his previous album . By his standard this track lacked more creativity on the instrumental side.
Sung in two languages, track seven is quite refreshing especially to those who want to learn other languages. The songwriter sings about a guy who is pleading with his love Molly to stay and be his future wife and mother of his children.
I will call this a bonus track since the message is from another old track which was sung in Tsonga only that he featured in his first album . I really liked this version not because it was sung in both Shona and Tsonga but because of the love message being carried in this track. This will be a must listen track for those who are in courtship awaiting marriage.
This is the song that Mutambi said was being well received by his fans during his live shows.
The good news to his fans is that during the interview Mutambi confirmed to me that he is shooting a video for this new album and should be finished in a couple of weeks.
REVIEWERS' REMARKS
After listening to this album, we are happy to say that the future of Sungura music is still looking bright.
Simon Mutambi has the potential to be the best Sungura artist and age is still on his side.
For the love of music growth it is also necessary that we highlight areas he needs to work on for his future projects in order to for him to reach greater heights.
He needs to work on his pitch so that he use the right pitch to prevent what may be a little bit of discord.
He should adjust his pitch to levels that suits his voice. It's not much but it's noticeable.
Tongai Moyo started his career playing like Dembo but later created his own identity by moving away from Dembo guitar works.
Mutambi needs to work towards improving that in the future so that he becomes himself.
This is the best time for him to work on his solo baselines and move away from the mentality that all that is created by senior Sungura musicians is the best ,eg the ululating bass line which is known to have been started by Alick Macheso.
He should make his music his own so that no one claims anything out of it.
Review done by
Pastor Gerald Mayanga Mhlanga (Music analyst)
And
Joseph Garakara( Musician and qualified journalist)
