''Faces to the Sun'' is the sixth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by South African

Afropop African popular music (also styled Afropop, Afro-pop or Afro pop), like African traditional music, is vast and varied. Most contemporary genres of African popular music build on cross-pollination with western popular music. Many genres of po ...

band

Mango Groove Mango Groove is an 11-piece South African Afropop band whose music fuses pop and township music—especially marabi and kwela. Since their foundation in 1984, the band has released six studio albums and numerous singles. Their most recen ...

. Released in October 2016, ''Faces to the Sun'' is a

double album A double album (or double record) is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording i ...

with more than a dozen featured artists. The first disc comprises renditions of major South African pop songs. Lead singer Claire Johnston described the selections as "personal favourites of ours" that are about what it means to be South African. The second disc features eight original songs, plus a remix of Mango Groove's cover of "Durban Road" (a song first released by the Makhona Zonke Band in 1975). Four songs from the album were released as singles: "Faces to the Sun" was issued as a digital single in October 2015;

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

s for "From the Get Go" and "Another Country" premiered in November 2016; a music video for "Kind" followed in February 2017, and one for "Under African Skies" in July 2018.

Production

Lead singer Claire Johnston conceived the album circa 2011. Several years after the release of ''Africa Blue'', her 2004 cover album of jazz and R&B classics, Johnston was contemplating the production of a third solo album to cover "great South African songs". The idea evolved into a Mango Groove project. Around the same time, Johnston and bandleader John Leyden divorced, and Johnston's mother died. "It was a turbulent time but a lot of that energy fed into the album and made it an emotional final product," Johnston said. The album was recorded, arranged, and produced by bandmembers Andrew Baird and John Leyden at Orangotang Studios in the

Sandton Sandton is an upscale commercial and residential district north of the city of Johannesburg, South Africa. It forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. The name of the city came from the combination of two of its suburbs, ...

suburb of

Bryanston Bryanston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 925. The village is adjacent to the grounds of Bryanston School, an inde ...

. Before emigrating to South Africa from Zimbabwe, Baird had specialised in producing

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

and

inspirational music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

. On 5 October 2015, the band released the first single: "Faces to the Sun". At that time, the album was to be titled ''Sing the Beloved Country'', with a release planned for March 2016. In early October 2016, just over a year after the first single, press releases from the band and their label announced a revised release date, along with the track list and the new album title. Warner Music South Africa released the retitled

via the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

on 28 October 2016; the CD release followed a week later, on 11 November. Photography for ''Faces to the Sun'' is by Graeme Wyllie, with graphic design by the Red Flag agency of Johannesburg. "The Road", the final song on the album, is dedicated to the memory of

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, who died in 2013.

Artist collaborations

Shortly before the album's release, bandleader John Leyden commented on the musical collaborations: "We chose iconic South African artists that have been part of our own musical journey and whose amazing voices suited our interpretations of the songs, but at the same time, we also worked with a couple of new and exciting contemporary artists". One of the featured collaborators is trumpeter and

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

artist Mo T (Moshe Kgasoane); he is the son of the band's longtime trumpeter, Banza Kgasoane, who died in 2015.

Zolani Mahola Zolani Mahola (born 19 July 1981) is a South African singer, actress, storyteller and world-renowned inspiration speaker, now also known under the stage name The One Who Sings. She is most famously known as lead singer of the internationally-ac ...

(lead singer of

Freshlyground Freshlyground are a South African Afro-fusion band that formed in Cape Town in 2002. The band members have different backgrounds, including South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Freshlyground's musical style blends elements of traditional Sout ...

) sings with Mango in a new recording of "Another Country", the title song of the 1993 album '' Another Country''. It was an anthem that helped usher South Africa out of the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime and into a new government. Other featured artists include Afrikaans singers

Juanita du Plessis Juanita du Plessis (née Naudé; born April 26) is a Namibian Afrikaans country singer. She became known for her song ''Ska-Rumba''. Du Plessis' singing career began in 1998 with her debut album ''Juanita''. That year she won the CMA (Country M ...

and

Kurt Darren Kurt Johan van Heerden (born 19 February 1970), better known as Kurt Darren, is a South African singer, songwriter and television presenter, who won seven South African Music Awards (SAMA) from 2007 to 2011. He has also appeared in a number of ...

; folk singer-songwriter

Vusi Mahlasela Vusi Sidney Mahlasela Ka Zwane (born 1965 in Pretoria, South Africa) is a Sotho South African singer-songwriter. His music is generally described as "African folk" and he is often dubbed as "The Voice" of South Africa. His work was an inspir ...

; gospel singer

Rebecca Malope } Batsogile Lovederia "Rebecca" Malope (born June 30, 1968) is a South African gospel singer. She is known as "The Queen of Gospel." Her music career spans more than three decades. She has sold at least 10 million albums worldwide, making her o ...

; and vocal quartet

Romanz Romanz was a South African pop/opera vocal quartet. They sung predominantly in Afrikaans and also in English. They won several prominent awards for their work. They disbanded in 2014. Adam Barnard died on 6 May 2022. Members Past Members: * A ...

Reception

In 2017, ''Faces to the Sun'' was a

South African Music Awards The South African Music Awards (often simply the SAMAs) are the Recording Industry of South Africa's music industry awards, established in 1995. The ceremony is held annually, usually in late April or May, with the judging process starting in N ...

nominee in the " Best Adult Contemporary Album" and "Best Engineered Album" categories (the engineer was Andrew Baird). The award for "Best Adult Contemporary Album" went to

Hugh Masekela Hugh Ramapolo Masekela (4 April 1939 – 23 January 2018) was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, singer and composer who was described as "the father of South African jazz". Masekela was known for his jazz compositions and for ...

's ''

No Borders ''No Borders'' is the forty-fourth and final studio album by South African jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela. The album was released on 11 November 2016 via Universal Music label. Background The album takes on a journey through the diverse culture, ...

''; the award for Best Engineered Album went to

Arno Carstens Arno Carstens (born 12 March 1972) is a South African musician and artist. Career Arno Carstens is a platinum selling, award-winning singer-songwriter based in Cape Town, South Africa. During his career as the lead singer of The Springbok Nud ...

' ''Aandblom 13''. Other nominees in the Adult Contemporary Album category that year were

Elvis Blue Jan Adriaan Hoogendyk (born 28 December 1979), known professionally as Elvis Blue, is a South African musician and songwriter. Early life Jan Hoogendyk was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. Hoogendyk is a self-taught musician, tea ...

's ''Optics'', Majozi's ''Fire'', and Msaki's ''Zaneliza: How the Water Moves''. Journalist/blogger El Broide rated ''Faces to the Sun'' four stars out of five.

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2016 albums Mango Groove albums