Desire Marea

New EP — Out Now

NEW EP THE BADDIES OF ISANDLWANA – OUT NOW

AN INFUSION OF SOUNDS THAT DOMINATE THE NIGHTLIFE IN SA, A QUEST TO FIND HIMSELF IN HISTORY

LATEST ALBUM ON THE ROMANCE OF BEING – OUT NOW

South Africa-based artist Desire Marea today releases a new EP, The Baddies of Isandlwana, via Mute: https://mute.ffm.to/desiremarea-tbi 

The new EP follows a tour which saw Desire Marea and his band on the road for the first time since an appearance at Grace Jones’ Meltdown festival in London, performing a series of incendiary shows across Europe and the UK.

The Baddies of Isandlwana is, according to Desire, “…a trio of songs inspired by my time living in Amandawe, KZN. It’s an infusion of sounds that dominate nightlife in SA such as Gqom, Amapiano and Afrobeat. The EP is symbolic of a time when I was trying to find myself in the world I occupied, which extended to my ongoing quest to find myself in history, hence the title.” 

The title refers to the 1879 Battle of Isandlwana, the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu war which ended with a decisive victory for the Zulus, and it was this search for himself in history that prompted Desire to contemplate the lives of the LGBT+ soldiers in the Zulu army.

Featuring live favourite ‘The Only Way’, the Orchestral Gqom of ‘If You Know ’ (don’t miss the accompanying Triana Hernandez directed video) plus previously unheard track, ‘Tholakele’, the EP is available to listen to HERE.

Desire Marea’s voice is a culmination of many South African voices; a mouthpiece for a choir of spirits and entities. In recent years, the Amandawe based artist trained as Sangoma, a traditional Nguni spiritual healer and on his second album, 2023’s On the Romance of Being – which has just been nominated for Best Alternative Album at the SAMAs (South African Music Awards) as well as an Album of the Year So Far at The Quietus and a BBC 6Music New Music Fix – Desire finds himself immersed in the communal, ceremonial and healing qualities of music, sonically taking in post-gospel, spiritual jazz and the ancient music of the Nguni and Ndau peoples.

Desire, his 2020 debut album, was one of Rough Trade’s Albums of the Year and BBC 6Music’s Album of the Day. The album traversed electronic genres in an introspective exploration of modern love and loss, drawing in fans from across the globe, including Grace Jones.

Before his solo career, Desire formed beloved Joburg collective FAKA with creative partner Fela Gucci. FAKA toured the world extensively; made their American debut scoring for Telfar at NYFW; achieved icon status by partnering with Versace to soundtrack their S/S 2019 menswear show and were featured in the Vogue World 100 and Dazed 100 lists.

The Baddies of Isandlwana tracklisting

The Only Way

If You Know 

Tholakele

Listen to The Baddies of Isandlwana: https://mute.ffm.to/desiremarea-tbi

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