All-time favorite genre of the Jukebox?
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[6.86]
Scott Mildenhall: In a world ruled by the Jukebox, maybe Sun-El and Simmy would be the ones taking this sound to a worldwide audience. They certainly do it better — there’s a flatness and a tinniness to this that they wouldn’t sign off — but what “Jerusalema” has over, say, “Sonini” is an even more appreciable spirituality. Nomcebo proffers a devotion in her delivery that defies language to a degree beyond even “Akanamali”. That song could easily have defied the closed minds of media gatekeepers everywhere, too; fingers crossed that this direct hit can knock down the door for more.
[7]
Thomas Inskeep: This pleasant-enough South African house track features a gorgeous, soaring vocal from Nomcebo which puts it over the top. Her voice deserves a more interesting song, though.
[6]
Will Adams: Delivers enough warmth and spirituality within the first 30 seconds (and enough to inspire an international dance challenge), but stretching that to over four minutes takes it from magic to pleasant to static.
[6]
Juana Giaimo: The soft beat and the spacey synths create a very relaxed vibe that complements Nomcebo’s smooth voice — I especially enjoy when her tone gets deep. But I wish there were a little bit more going on; at times this feels rather like a generic beach track that you could listen at a hotel lounge.
[6]
Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Glorious both in the obvious ways (those swelling strings! everything about Nomcebo’s vocal!) and in the little things, in the way the vocal samples drop out at times to emphasize Nomcebo at the center of it all or the insistent progression of the synth horns. It’s dance music and gospel and also something more than either of those terms, a musical celebration that doesn’t lay on the inspiration too thick to be appreciated. It’s the kind of song that feels like waking up after a sleep brought on by exhaustion, the kind of song you’d appreciate no matter when or where you hear it.
[8]
William John: Michelle Williams’s “Say Yes” now has a challenger for the title of “best gospel bop you can shake your bum to.”
[8]
Edward Okulicz: All the reasons I immediately rate this as “quite nice” are also the reasons it doesn’t stretch any further. Yet I feel most disappointed in myself for not being able to stretch for the transformative feeling I want to. It’s an easy song to enjoy, though, and Nomcebo has a monstrously good voice. I’m generally immune to gospel, so I like how the lyrics are in Zulu, which make it easy to hear the uplift without wondering what or whom it’s uplifting. There’s this weird, wavey, ravey noise in the background which could have anchored a pretty busy track on its own, sometime 20 years ago, or more. Maybe the reason I can’t go above “quite nice” is that halfway between disco and gospel is falling between two stools, one I use and one I don’t. This is someone’s idea of pure transcendence, it’s not mine, but I’m glad it exists.
[7]