Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Raise Your Spirit Higher
HEADS UP

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There’s a poignant edge to the typically joyful expressions of Christian faith heard on the first release in five years from South African a cappella favorites Ladysmith Black Mambazo.  The final track, “Tribute,” a simplistic, hip-hop-influenced piece sing by the grandsons of founder/leader Joseph Shabalala, reveals the source of the hinted-at sadness: Nellie Shabalala, Joseph’s wife of three decades, was murdered by a masked gunman in 2002.

But Raise Your Spirit Higher comes off as a lesson in overcoming troubles, with the group turning in a dozen feel-good pieces, each informed by the vocal ensemble’s familiar, inspired update of isicathamiya, a traditional music born in the mines of South Africa.  The format is mostly call and response, with Shabalala offering a plaintive cry, followed by harmonically rich, bass-heavy rejoinders, and a variety of percussive mouth sounds – clicks, pops, tongue rolls and yelps.  The lyrics, sung in Zulu and occasional English, often refer to matters of religious belief, with Shabalala soaring above the others and diving into the mix on “Uqinsil Ubada (Lord Is The Light And Truth)” and the group working up a catchy, swaying groove on the starting-and-stopping “Udidekil Umhlaba (Lord’s Work).”

Elsewhere, they take on the politics of cultural identity (“Black Is Beautiful)”, the healing power of art (“Music Knows No Boundaries)” and, somewhat didactically, the dangers of drunken driving, with “Fak’ Ibhande (Don’t Drink and Drive)” delivered like a public service announcement.  Due to the group’s success, the Ladysmith sound seems less exotic to American ears, but nevertheless remains as beautiful and entrancing as ever.