December/Sedimonthole by Thaba

Thaba is an international collective of musicians founded by South African singer/songwriter Khusi Seremane, based in Cape Town and American producer and musician Gabriel Cyr, based in Brooklyn. The pair met in the halcyon days of Myspace music and began to collaborate. The result of those first collaborations, their debut album, Eyes Rest Their Feet, was released in November 2020. Tragically, Seremane passed away a few months before its release while he and Cyr were in the midst of writing and recording their follow-up. In the wake of Seremane's untimely passing, Cyr continued to work on the record, transforming it into both a tribute to his friend and a deep meditation on grief and loss.
The title of the album, December/Sedimonthole, carries profound personal and cultural significance. In Setswana, Seremane’s native tongue, which he switches fluidly into on both records, the word Sedimonthole refers to the month of December and is tied to the middle of summer and the rainy season, a time of harvest and abundance. During this period, the end of the year and the high of summer, crops are brought to harvest, often carried in large loads on people's heads. In moments of exhaustion, the people carrying these burdens appeal to the "sedimo" (ancestral spirits or, as some suggest, motho wa Modimo or "person of God") to help them unload their heavy burdens. The word Sedimonthole thus reflects both a physical and spiritual appeal for assistance. This theme of seeking help, release, and spiritual connection resonates throughout the album as it explores grief, healing, and the connection between love and loss.
The new record builds on the genre-agnostic, downtempo romance of Eyes Rest Their Feet, and expands the unique Thaba sound into new territories. This record more explicitly incorporates South African influences than the first. Seremane's vocals appear on four of the eight tracks, with Lollise Mbi, Nyasha Chiundiza, and Cyr covering vocal duties on the remaining tracks. The opening tune, ”Fofa," a vibrant and energetic track that blends elements of kwaito, mbaqanga, and jive alongside South African jazz-inspired horn phrasing. Here, Seremane departs from the cool, soulful delivery that defined his previous work, rising to meet the energy of the band as he sings about extending love in the face of hatred and prejudice. "Pale Hearts" takes a different turn, imagining an African version of King Crimson, featuring the interplay of Congolese guitarist Yohni Dungu-Sungu, Brazilian guitarist Marcos Campello, and New Yorker Jonathan Granhoff's post-Pastorius fretless bass work. Botswanan vocalist Lollise Mbi joins the band here, offering a cool tenor on this meditation on letting go, written by Cyr after Seremane's passing. Seremane returns to vocal duties again on Bullets(Work & Deliver). The song features Johannesburg based guitarist jazz guitarist Billy Monama, merging both maskanda and mbaqanga guitar styles with the Samba-Reggae drumming of legendary Brazilian percussionist Mauro Refosco.
The title track, "December," is the final song Seremane and Cyr wrote together, finished just a week before Seremane's passing. Here, it is sung by Zimbabwean artist Nyasha Chiundiza (aka Enid Ze). The song, in which the narrator comforts an ex-lover with the hope that they'll look back on the good times they shared rather than on their relationship's painful ending, serves as a poignant introduction to the album's central theme. Pulling elements from jazz, soul and reggae, featuring a solo from Underground System’s Domenica Fossati in flute.
From here the album pushes further into experimental territory with tracks like "The Avarian," which veers into dark cosmic jazz, and "Homeless Pts 1 & 2" which takes the listener on a journey that begins like a Sly & Robbie production and ends in an ambient drama, featuring harpist Shelly Burgon. The album finale, "False Sense of Self," is a ballad Seremane penned during his student years. Cyr discovered a recording of the song after Seremane's death, shared in a WhatsApp group among friends that took the place of in-person mourning during the heart of the COVID-19 lockdown. The song's lyrics, reflecting on the pain of isolation and the possibility of growth through grief, struck Cyr as deeply resonant for the moment. He reimagined it, with the help of cellist Brent Arnold, and turned it into something that wouldn't be out of place on a Scott Walker or David Sylvian record, providing a perfect closing statement for December/Sedimonthole. "Mourn to be born again…"

Thaba is Khusi Seremane (South Africa - rest in peace, July 2020) and Gabriel Cyr (United States).