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Following up their remarkable 2023 comeback record ‘ZANGO’, Zambian psych-rockers WITCH have decided to make hay while the sun is shining. Their uniquely sunburnt shade of zamrock one of the first in the genre’s sparse history, if any band had the authority to rewrite the rules of the genre, it would be this lot. The name of their band is a creative acronym that spells out ‘We Intend To Cause Havoc’, and you can tell from the incredibly liberated performances. WITCH take a no-holds-barred approach to composing generally but on ‘SOGOLO’, that ethos is amplified. Applying a surprisingly fitting lo-fi jacket over this album, the rougher edges make the heaviest riffs here feel like ten bricks to the face. ‘Nadi’ for instance resembles a noisy Yoko Ono experiment on the vocal end, but takes on a White Stripes-ian instrumental palette to compliment. Meanwhile, ‘Queenless King’ is a futuristic piece of psychedelic funk, pining for a seemingly untouchable goddess; “getting closer to her”. The hypnotic ‘Tiponde Madzi’ snakes its way through a mathy groove that only gets stronger with each repetition.
By no means are WITCH painting-by-the-numbers here. Make no mistake, if their last album was up your alley, then this one should be no exception. This time around though, the music here seems to be content on hammering one motif, a baseline, a drum beat, allowing the band to decorate and pile on as they see fit. They’re not working with the standard rock formula, the songs here feel so much more live; improvised. It’s like a jam circle around a bonfire that just gets more immense as people keep jumping in. No song embodies this creative ethos better than the propulsive ‘Dancer on a Trip’. A deceptively simple piece of afrobeat that will glue itself to your temporal lobes. This extended jam mentality crops up on ‘Bang Bang’ as well. It’s a call to action, everybody dance in whatever way you can. The feeling is infectious.
‘Sogolo’ as a rough translation means ‘future’. All across this project, I hear a band making triumphant lunges towards the future. It is represented in the occasional synthetic production, namely on the surprising dub inclusion ‘Totally Devoted’. It is laced into the constant themes of movement underpinning this album’s core. I hear it in the progressions of these songs too. Though we may not leave a particular vibe once it’s set, it is always being built upon. Evolving in one way or another; that is the modus operandi of this album. If ‘Zango’ was setting the scene for zamrock’s comeback, ‘SOGOLO’ is pushing the idea of zamrock far beyond its initial capacities. It is opening the door for experimentation, welcoming outside influence as a means of jetting into a new era. WITCH is back, and they look like they’re here to stay.
Dan Will Review 