It is really difficult to be in a bad mood while listening to ‘Hail’
Go Barefoot has been jamming around South Africa since August 2013. Playing at festivals such as Oppikoppi, Rocking The Daisies, Lush and Splashy Fen.
With their happy-go-lucky sound, it feels like summer just hit me hard in the earlobes as I listen to their latest single “Hail”.
They compose their music to make things move, to transcend social boundaries, bring folks together and speak to the crowd that supports them live, in a way that only Go Barefoot can accomplish. Go Barefoot is capable of creating brilliant sound, overflowing with youthful energy, catchy melodies and capable of spreading over various cultural and musical boundaries by drawing influence from Western music and certain African folk genres.
Their latest single ‘Hail’ is definitely music that will make you dance and is pushing the band forward. ‘Hail’ is a profound thought concerning friendship, compensation for boredom with intoxicants and self-exploration.
The song was born when the band played at band mate, Mike’s, sister’s wedding. The song has an uplifting chord progression that feels celebratory. The band realised afterwards that the progress of the song was similar to Basil Coetzee and Abdullah Ibrahim’s Mannenburg.
“We pay respects to them when we introduce the song using a motif from Mannenburg at our live shows.’’ Says Go Barefoot.
Go Barefoot’s lyrics are intimate and sombre, with a deep contrast from the upbeat, folky music. With a gentle voice, adding volume and depth to the atmosphere of their latest single, I still find myself smiling and tapping my foot to the beat of ‘Hail’ after I have listened to the song over 20 times. I am proud to say that our South African music culture is in for a treat to see what else Go Barefoot has in store. They’re five immaculate human beings, with friendship goals that we all want and need, now if that is not commitment, then I don’t know what is.
