Malawi's Madalitso Band collaborates with Ukrainian indie trio

“'Sitimamenya' talks about advising children who have done something wrong, without getting physical,” Madalitso Band’s Yosefe and Yobu told Music In Africa. “It’s not the usual driven style of Madalitso’s music, but takes an influence from the most popular music style in Malawi – reggae. It’s nice to give the audience something different once in a while. We hope the fans will love it.”

In May, the band received an email from Tik Tu that read: ‘We love your music. It’s so joyful and uplifting. These are crazy times we know, but if you want to do a collaboration we would love that. I have a studio at my house so anything you want, we are here."

Yosefe and Yobu then recorded their parts in Lilongwe and send them to the Ukrainian electro-indie trio, which uses classical and psychedelic rock elements in its compositions.

"Tik Tu added extra vocals, plucked violin, bass and modern synth sounds," Madalitso Band’s manger, Neil Nayar, said. "The idea was to add some Tik Tu vibes, but keep it as a Madalitso track in its essence. Surprising as it may seem, there turned out to be quite a lot of crossover between the main genres of these two bands from other sides of the planet. It’s very beautiful to hear a Ukrainian vocalist singing in Chichewa, and when she [Nataly] switches back to her own language you’re truly flying. The first time Madalitso Band heard the final song they couldn’t stop smiling.”

Tik Tu member Lesik Omodada said: “There is actually a small amount of luck in music production. This time, everything just fell into place wonderfully.”

Nayar added that the song’s video was also a collaborative effort. Tik Tu filmed some of their scenes in front of a green screen and sent them to Malawi. “Madalitso shot some scenes during the recording of the song and others out on the streets. Music Crossroads Malawi’s Hear Us Children brought some traditional dances to the stage, and then it was just a matter of piecing it all together,” he said.

Madalitso broke onto the international scene following their performance at Sauti Za Busara festival in Zanzibar in 2017. The event was the duo's first outside Malawi after 10 years of performing together across the country. Since then, they have performed at Roskilde Festival (Denmark), WOMAD (UK) and hundreds of other events in Europe and Africa.

Madalitso Band has released two albums, Fungo La Nyemba and Wasalala, and is currently working on a second single due for release in September. The song will be released via Bongo Joe Records in Switzerland.

Sitimamenya will be available on all major streaming platforms, and for download on Madalitso Band's official website.