Off their forthcoming debut album Closer Apart
The Fuss List Alumni, OkZharp and Manthe Ribane have finally made their duo official. Following the release of their second EP released in 2016, the separate careers of the duo blossomed and it wasn’t quite clear whether we’d get more music with them being based in different countries.
The two toured South Africa in December last year and things became all the more clear earlier this year when OKZharp changed the name of his Facebook fan page to OKZharp & Manthe Ribane. The final nail was hammered into the proverbial coffin with the release of the ‘Dun’ and the announcement of their debut album Closer Apart.
A video for ‘Kubona’ created by longtime collaborator Chris Saunders in partnership with Cool Your Jets followed the lead single. The video sees the duo transported into a digital 8bit world unlike their previous surreal videos led by dance performances.
Their illusory placement together in this 8bit universe stands parallel to the title of the debut, ‘Closer Apart’which alludes to the physical distance between the duo’s addresses and the manner in which the album was hacked together. “Most of the music came out of headphone moments in hotel rooms, planes and airports in the brief periods of time that we spent together, in Paris and later Vienna.” says OKZharp.
Closer Apart is scheduled for release on the 6th of July via Black Major Release in partnership with Hyperdub.
Watch the 8-bit video for ‘Kubona’ where Manthe Ribane explores her feminine grace below.
