Brain Temba is back from what mirrored a hiatus from music, with his fifth studio album, It’s All You titled after track number six on the album, which happens to be his favourite among the eight songs on this body of work.
And although he hasn’t released an album in four years, only being featured on various projects over the years including a gospel project, Temba says this particular project came at a time when he felt new music was what is needed.
The eight songs were recorded during a time when he needed healing, during the frustrating Covid-19 first wave where he couldn’t work nor earn.
Like many others, he was slowly receding into a depression but had the music to save him.
When he looks at the album, the mixture of songs featured communicate healing, while taking the listener down memory lane of either a known or unknown time in history.
“The album has that Motown 60s sound, a sound that is very nostalgic that when people hear it, they’ll think they’ve either heard the music before but they actually haven’t.
“So it transports you back to that old school time when you’d listen to your Marvin Gayes and Teddy Pendergrass.
“An overall good vibe,” he said adding that it is the sort of music that he felt is needed right now.
“Producing music for me takes a while because I believe it is a spiritual journey and it is something special to me.
“And for me, I have to take my time with it because it has to be right so when I put it out to people for the people to consume, I have to relate to it first.
“So this particular album, my God, I think it’s over a year that I’ve worked on it.
“Only now that I felt it is the right time to release it because you know when you are sitting with something and you rework it, listen and really immerse yourself in it, you start to produce something that speaks to the time so beautifully.
“I personally think this is a brilliant album,” he says.
The album was released on his birthday earlier this month as a gift to himself.
“I am excited to share this gift with the people, for them to hear what I have been doing for my birthday.”
Temba’s career has been ever-evolving, growing between acting, singing, music scoring, and producing, among others.
He emphasised how music has forever remained at the core of who he is.
“That is why I said I never really left music or took a break from it.
“I have always made music.
“I have always participated in music.
“I have a professional studio in my house, so how can I be off the music.
“I am just an ever-evolving person.
“I am always looking for growth in myself and that has always put me in different spaces,” he said.
“I have been featured on an amapiano song, I have done gospel but as an R&B baby – I will always return to my first love,” he says, adding that this album is reminiscent of that love – R&B.
“It’s fascinating what I have done on this album.
“For most of my albums, after the first one, I have been very intentional with featuring vernacular like Zulu songs and I advocate for that holistically.
“On this one, there are so many beautiful things that I have never done before.
“I feature amazing people like Afrotraction on the album on the song Flavour that has a disco and old-school sound.
“The song Olwethu is a very Zulu song but you’ll find that it is reminiscent of people like H.E.R, when she collaborated with Daniel Cesar.
“But that style is done in isiZulu.
“So it’s an interesting album for me, because of the challenge, the growth and the evolution of music that you will find on that album.”
The artist has already started conceptualising his next album, saying with the myriad of songs that he worked on already, he has an idea of what to release next.
But for now, this album It’s All You, is the perfect sound for December.
Sunday Independent