WITCH – Kamusale

Some bands get second chances. Fewer still get to define them entirely on their terms. WITCH – the Zambian legends once dubbed the “Zambian Beatles” – have somehow managed both with ‘Kamusale’, the final preview of their upcoming album ‘SOGOLO’.

The song draws from a Bemba children’s game where kids gather under moonlight to play at preparing for marriage – an innocent premise that Jagari transforms into wisdom about looking beyond surface attraction. “Don’t follow the beauty of the face or body. Go deeper into the character and ensure you marry the right person”, he advises. It’s relationship counseling wrapped in Zamrock fury, delivered by a 74-year-old who’s earned the right to dispense such guidance.

‘SOGOLO’ – meaning “future” in Zambian – represents the second chapter of WITCH’s improbable comeback story. Their 2023 reunion album ‘Zango’ ended a nearly four-decade silence, sparked by reissues of their 1970s catalogue that reminded the world what had been lost.

Recorded in Berlin during their whirlwind touring cycle and produced again by Jacco Gardner, the new material bridges their garage-psych origins. The result feels like victory lap music from a band that never expected to take one, mixing 70s funk foundations with 90s guitar and modern sensibilities that shouldn’t work together but do.