Dumama returns with Towards an Expanse on Soundway Records, a wide-reaching work that builds on the foundations of her collaboration with Kechou. Where that record introduced her singular voice, this set stretches further outward — sometimes devotional, sometimes electro-psychedelic, always rooted in deep listening.
Opening as a hushed lament, Towards an Expanse gradually unfolds into something vast and searching. Begun in 2019 at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn with guidance from Shahzad Ismaily, written between Port Alfred and Cape Town, and later shaped in Berlin, the album carries the imprint of movement and exchange. It feels lived-in and borderless, yet firmly grounded in South African sonic memory.
At its core, the record reflects on how to live with damage while reclaiming agency over how Black life is remembered and archived. Dumama draws strength from figures such as Miriam Makeba, Busi Mhlongo, Princess Magogo and Madosini, placing their legacies in dialogue with her own experimental practice. The result honours lineage while pushing toward open space.
Opening as a hushed lament, Towards an Expanse gradually unfolds into something vast and searching. Begun in 2019 at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn with guidance from Shahzad Ismaily, written between Port Alfred and Cape Town, and later shaped in Berlin, the album carries the imprint of movement and exchange. It feels lived-in and borderless, yet firmly grounded in South African sonic memory.
At its core, the record reflects on how to live with damage while reclaiming agency over how Black life is remembered and archived. Dumama draws strength from figures such as Miriam Makeba, Busi Mhlongo, Princess Magogo and Madosini, placing their legacies in dialogue with her own experimental practice. The result honours lineage while pushing toward open space.
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