EMILY HARRISON

Mi Casa just marked their decade in the industry with the appropriately titled 5th album, We Made It. The iconic Afro-pop trio seems to be on a winning streak with the first single of the album ‘Church Bells’ soaring to the top of charts across the country, and they recently signed with Afroforce1 Records, part of the Universal Music Group.

The creative process behind the album was aided by the band renting a house in the middle of Mpumalanga so that they could work without distractions. This dedication is can be seen in the highly anticipated album which can be described as the most creative work to come from Mi Casa in recent years. The album shows that Mi Casa is slowly evolving from their club and dance tracks to a more mature sound. Nostalgic fans should not be concerned though, as there are many tracks on the album that still stick to their iconic house roots. The album opens with the band’s first-ever explicit track ‘Sober’. The song starts with familiar sounds of Mi Casa, but its lyrics lean more towards R&B, a theme that is found throughout the album. The relaxing sounds of the song are the perfect lead-in to the album. From ‘Sober ’, listeners are given the more upbeat sounds of ‘Obsessed’. The second track on the album speaks more to the Afro-house tone that fans are accustomed to, and the accompanying trumpet played by Mo-T elevates the track. The mood is slowed down with ‘How Could You’, another track more reminiscent of R&B than what listeners are used to from Mi Casa. This song perfectly captures the new sound that Mi Casa is maturing towards. ‘How Could You’ is also the first collaboration on the album, featuring Rogue, whose presence feels very necessary to the track. Listeners will be left feeling hopeful for another collaboration between these two South African favorites. ‘Church Bells’ feels just like the Mi Casa sound that the fans are used to, but the song seems out of place on the record with its 5-minute length. It feels repetitive and becomes boring around the halfway mark, which detracts from the listening experience.

‘Eve’ is by far the standout of the album as it addresses serious socio-political themes. The song takes a look at the current crisis of gender-based violence in South Africa, as well as touching on other issues. ‘Home Alone’ is another collaboration, featuring AKA. ‘Home Alone’ is the perfect lockdown song, with AKA giving a call back to the ‘Bored in The House’ song that went viral earlier this year.

The storytelling of love and tumultuous relationships provide linearity to the album, but overall, the songs need better cohesion in order to elevate the album. Some songs feel disjointed as they struggle between sticking to their roots and fully delving into the new sound. The soft and tender emotion that features in the songs show how far Mi Casa has come in their career, and the maturation of their sound will leave listeners excited for future projects.

Image: undergroundpress.co.za