Abantu/Before Humans

Back in 2009 South African indie-rockers-with-roots BLK JKS seemed to be on the verge of international stardom: Dave Grohl called the Johannesburg quartet’s debut After Robots his favourite album of the year; Diplo invited them to play in New York and they kicked off the 2010 World Cup with a collaboration with Alicia Keys watched by two billion TV viewers worldwide. Then they disappeared. A decade later they’re back with a belated second album – but only just. The master tapes, recorded over several months, were stolen in a studio break-in and the group had to re-record the album in three days. It seems to have lent the recording an appealing urgency. ‘Harare’, featuring the Lesotho-born rapper and Africa Express alumni Morena Leraba, is a lovely mix of electro beats and acoustic guitars. The veteran Zulu guitarist Madala Kunene plays a rock solo on ‘iQ(w)ira – Machine Learning Vol 1’, which ends up sounding like an African take on The Doors. Vieux Farka Touré and Money Mark of Beastie Boys fame join the party on ‘Maiga Mali Mansa Musa’, which, as its title suggests, is a deep dive into West African desert blues. Elsewhere dub basslines, Afrobeat horns, spiritual jazz, 21st-century funk and kwaito collide gloriously in a highly welcome return.