Get Familiar With Sun Xa Experiment’s ‘Spiritual Ancestral’ Sound

Sun Xa Experiment is a South African group from Soweto. The septet is made up of Buyisiwe Njoko (lead vocals), Tebogo Mkhize (acoustic guitar), Lerato Seitei (electric guitar), Benedict Watte (percussion), Musa Zwane (bass), Siphiwe Mgidi (drums). They describe themselves as a band that "caters a spiritual ancestral sound that tells of stories of who we are as the global community without race, color or nation."

The crew says their music is part of a spiritual journey into self-discovery which connects their listeners to their ancestors, reminding them of who they are and where they are from as human beings.

In an interview with on SABC's Afternoon Expressshow in 2019, right before performing their latest single "Bayede," Buyisiwe broke down the meaning of the band's name:

"Sun Xa simply means 'the sun is out,' so we thought it's such a long name saying 'The Sun is Out Experiment,' so why not use the "xa"? You know, we must always remember that we are people of the south and South Africa is our home. We must always remember where we come from, hence we always tap back and say our music is ancestral."

"Bayede" runs for close to nine minutes and showcases most of what the band sell themselves as—spiritual vocals punctuated by ululations live in a psychedelic atmosphere of electric guitars and heavy percussion. The band's lyrics are in IsiZulu, SeSotho and English.

The term "bayede" is normally used to address a king or queen in some South African languages. "The single is the fourth song on the album, and it is an acknowledgement of who we are as kings and queens in a form of a greeting," say the band in a press release. "We say 'bayede' to each and every individual to acknowledge their power and ability. And also, to see each individual as a royal highness in their own right and or sense. Life would be a lot simpler and easier if we were able to see and praise one's greatness, no matter where they come from."

Sun Xa Experiment recently headlined the festivals Endless Daze and Smoking Dragon.

"As Sun-Xa Experiment we paint our bodies with paint every time we go on stage," says the band in an email to OkayAfrica. "It symbolizes a mark of a ritual that's about to take place on stage, the painting symbolizes our past lifetimes (ancestors) and the journey that has been walked before us. The painting patterns are different in all performances based on the energy on that day."

If you love music that evokes feeling and emotion in parts of you that you might have forgotten as the continent continues to get westernized, you will definitely love the music of Sun Xa Experiment.

Sun Xa Experiment has evolved, and in the last few years, they stumbled upon their current sound. "Initially we sounded like an avant-garde jazz band," Buyisiwe told the Mail & Guardian in an interview last year. "But then we lost a keyboardist and a saxophonist, which is when I ended up playing the vuvuzela."

The band will release an album in March. The project will be a follow-up to their 2017 two-track EP Ingoma. The album will be called Umculo Umuthi, which means "music is medicine."

Listen to "Bayede," the six-track album's first single, below:

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