Last year, in April, the South African polygoth Uncle Waffles released her debut EP, ‘Red Dragon’. The project had advanced her place as one of Amapiano’s strongest and visionary voices, underlined with a pomp that had been the signature of Waffles since breaking out with a slew of viral moments during the pandemic. In true consistent style, she followed up with the ‘ASYLUM’ project eleven months later, introducing more sensitivity into her sound while retaining the explosive elements that made her so heralded. 

Since then the DJ and producer has been oiling the wheels of a second full length album, and its most beautiful indication came last week, with the release of “Echoes,” a dreamy song that features some of South Africa’s finest voices. Considering that her forthcoming project is titled ‘(An Asylum of) Solace’, this record goes ahead to set the scene, a centerpiece of its vision. 

 

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The first thing audible on “Echoes” is its percussive pattern, a swooning soft patter that’s amplified by melancholic notes. Lusanda is the adhesive behind its disparate parts, her voice lulling with the watery essence of a dream. “Echoes, but you not tryna let this go,” she sings on the chorus, introducing the theme of imperfect love that runs through the song. She’s similarly involved even when Manana comes into the mix, the singer’s warm vocals melding with the lithe tone of hers. 

Relationships are an infamously trippy field, as different perspectives emerge into its core, shifting perceptions the other thought as previously solidified. Thus it’s been one of music’s enduring themes throughout the ages, still offering material to the attentive musician. 

Uncle Waffles is anything if not attentive. Her curatorial prowess again reveals itself in the selection of the artists here, as their voices and sensibilities which has been revealed throughout their individual careers bleeds into this song. When Lusanda asks, “Have you ever missed someone and you’ll never get them back?” the listener subconsciously sighs Yes, but then her follow-up line (“Imma take it and I’ll charge it to the game”) opens up another dimension of that inner conflict, as memory becomes something larger than itself, becoming rather a manifestation of the self and how that self progresses through the world from that point onwards. 

For those with a flair for language, poetic phrasing isn’t new to musicians, but it’s the dosage of abstraction that takes a song from good to great. “Echoes” is a great song because amidst the dreamy soundscape and lulling voices, there’s a place for the listener to fit in their distinct narrative, espousing, as James Baldwin puts it, “that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive”. 

The imagery is rich, the tone luscious, and it’s credit to Tony Duardo for the openness of the production, that everything fits into place. Manana, who made NATIVE Mag’s 2022 list for Best R&B Projects of the Year, provides a similarly evocative verse, imbibing the second half of the song with his charming, vulnerable perspective. “Cause I’m still gonna be, like a broken CD/ Begging on my knees, won’t you please just see me?” he sings with a pensive clarity, relaying an emotion many have felt throughout the years. The more love slips away from one’s grasp, the more confused people tend to be, wondering if the other ever saw things from their point of view. 

Initially, the rise of Uncle Waffles was preceded with some scepticism, as it seemed she rode on the heels of virality through her disarmingly good looks and energetic stage presence as a DJ. Well, she’s swatted away such opinions ever since then, every project of hers inching towards a full formation of her prowess as a musician, and it’s important that Waffles is taking her sound past the mythos of amapiano. She’s striking out as a versatile artist, while retaining her South Africanness and the communal vision many of its genres spring from. 

 

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“Echoes” is one of the most beautiful songs we’ll hear this year, but it’s also very possible it would become one of the striking records of Uncle Waffles’ career. Everything works to glittering perfection, setting up her forthcoming project on Friday considerably well. African music is at a place where so much is happening at once, and it takes a focused artist to trace the roots of their sound, and with ‘An Asylum of Echoes’, that seems to be the mission of Uncle Waffles. This song just puts that noble vision in perspective, and beyond it’s far-reaching motivations, it’s an inspiration of sound that she’s still honed into the present, creating, essentially, a song that speaks to the now without compromising its timeless essence. 

Stream “Echoes” and pre-save ‘Solace’ below.

Featured image credits/Instagram

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