Digital Indigenous 05: Katula

Ufulu 1991​-​1997 first chronicled the rise of the Katawa Singers, a church group from Northern Malawi, who pioneered the “electronic gospel sound” that has since spread across the country. Their new record, released as part of Polish label 1000HZ Recordings’ series Digital Indigenous, captures a new stage of the group’s development, moving away from the drum machine and keyboard synths of their early years to making music with a laptop and simple production software. The gorgeous vocal harmonies of their early days are still present, but are complemented by rich textures and arrangements that build upon local rhythms like malipenga, ingoma, and kamchoma.