Takesure Zarmar Ncube
****
This is the
third album from a series of devotional albums that have been consistently coming
from Takesure Zarma Ncube since 2011. What excites me most about this album is
that for those who have been following Worship Addicts for the past 4 or 5
years like me, this is not totally a "new" album but rather a
"new old album" because it carries a number of songs that Zamar has
sung everywhere he has ministered in the past few years but had not been
recorded.
Worship Addicts
is correctly named because it is meant to appeal to anyone and everyone who has
an unquenchable thirst and desire for worship and like the past to albums
Volumes 1 & 2, this latest album takes you deeper into the presence of the
Almighty and is a kind of album that can be stuck on repeat in anyone's car or
iPod, an album one came wake up to each morning, after all it is a devotional
album, that’s what it's meant to do right? What I have always found amazing is
the enchanting feel of Zarma's music and with this album he has managed to
remain consistent with his genre something I have always found to be very hard and
difficult to achieve for most local artists.
The lead track Ndichengetedzei
munyasha (keep/hide me in you grace) is a monster track! To me I
believe it captures the essence and spirit of what the artist is communicating
with this album, it could have easily been the title track of this here record
as far as I am concerned. It is a song that is relevant to these evil days we
are living in, so much is happening in the world around us and many are falling
into and living in sin and Zarma is crying to the Lord to be kept safe in His
grace. Even as the sun is setting on one's life and the spirit returns to its
maker, we all need the Lord to remember and keep us in His grace. In tough and
hard times, in pain, in sickness, in lack and when enemies come after me, Lord
I want to be remembered and kept in your grace, I want to stay and hide in your
grace. What a song!
Umoya wami
uyakudumisa is track 2, "my heart worships
you oh Lord, I lift up my hands and my heart to you" That’s all the song
simply says, purely a worship song! Track 3 is the Shona reprise of the same
track and appears as Moyo wangu unorumbidza and this time features the amazing
vocals of Kudzi Muganga. Tremier Msipa and Nolan Kahonde feature on track 4, Looking
to You. Well, what can I say about this song? Amazing is all I can say,
you need to listen to it to appreciate what I am saying, great production and
vocal arrangement.
The tracks that
are not new to us Worship Addicts are tracks number 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12&13. Track
5 called Mweya mutsvene shamwari yangu happens to be my favourite from
this album, well so far, because with this addictive music any track can become
your "favourite" at any moment depending on what you are going
through at that particular time of your life. The song simply talks about the
Holy Spirit being your best friend and desiring to be visited by Him because
you are hungry and thirsty for Him, its one strictly for those that are
desperate to be filled by His presence, what appeals to me the more is the
funky "blues" feel of this track. Track 6 Ndinenzara Ndinenyota to
me really is a reprise of track 5, a calmer version of the song, typical Zarma
with that haunting organ in the background, a true worship experience.
Track 7, Shekinah
glory should be played at "your own risk" because in every
church service that I have been in and this song is sung it has a
"habit" of making things happen, if you are a true worshipper you
will know what I mean. It’s a song about the glory of God coming down; it
features one of the voices we should all watch out for in the not so distant
future, Nyasha Kaseke! Mark that name and Nolan Kahonde, who is not new to
Worship Addicts. Track 8 Nyasha features Brain Bangura and it
is a song for and about survivors, it talks about one being saved by grace, the
plan had been set and the enemy had come but grace said NO! "nyasha dzikajamuka"
Track 9 Umusa is the Ndebele version of the one before. This ability to do his music
in Zimbabwe's two main vernacular languages makes Worship Addicts appeal to a
cross section of listeners.
I surrender is track number 10, it is a song about a man who is tired of his
way of life and comes with his mind and life to the Lord to "transform me,
change me and make me" Trust Ngwenya features on this track. On track 11
Zarma "shows off" his linguistic talent with a track done in the
Venda language, the song is called Ahuna mumwe, the interesting thing
about this language is the fact that Venda sounds more like Shona so one can
make out what it is on about. There is none like the Lord is the message in the
song. With track 12 those who have listened to volume 2 you will remember the
track Umoya wami ulambile, now this here is the Shona version of the
same song, Unoshuvira moyo wangu, it is a song about longing to meet with
the Lord, "kushuvira, kudokwaira mumweya" a song that will surely get
you into the presence of the living God. Track 13 is a real surprise; a good surprise
actually, one would expect to find a track like this one on the other side of
Worship Addicts, which is Praise Addicts! The song Mweya waMwari uripamusoro pangu
originally done by Kingdom Praise on their album The Release Volume 2 is given
a new lease of life here and even carries an extra verse and also has a
"Tuku/Katekwe" kind of feel about it, a good ending to a great album.
What I have
found rather interesting over the years is how Zamar & Kingdom Praise have
shared and exchanged songs on almost all their albums and when each party does
their version they "own" the
song, they do it their own way and it is like listening to two different songs.
I find that refreshing because of the surprising competition amongst some local
gospel artists, this is how it must be. We are meant complement each other not
compete with each other. Well done you guys!
The only let
down with this great album is the packaging; Worship Addicts is now a big brand
and deserves to be packaged accordingly. Those sleeves will surely put off
would be "Addicts" something the Worship Addicts team needs to
address ASAP. Because of that I will take off a * from an
otherwise 5 star album!
Othentik Gospel
28/06/12
