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Faces to the Sun

Faces to the Sun
Studio album by Mango Groove
Released 28 October 2016 (2016-10-28)
Studio Orangotang Studios
Genre Afropop
Length 1:31:44
Language
Label Warner Music South Africa
Producer
  • Andrew Baird
  • John Leyden
Mango Groove chronology
Bang the Drum
(2009)
Faces to the Sun
(2016)

Faces to the Sun is the sixth studio album by South African Afropop band Mango Groove. Released in October 2016, Faces to the Sun is a double album with more than a dozen featured artists. The first disc comprises renditions of major South African pop songs. Lead singer Claire Johnston described the selections as "personal favourites of ours" that are about what it means to be South African. The second disc features eight original songs, plus a remix of Mango Groove's cover of "Durban Road" (a song first released by the Makgona Tsohle Band in 1975).

Four songs from the album were released as singles: "Faces to the Sun" was issued as a digital single in October 2015; music videos for "From the Get Go" and "Another Country" premiered in November 2016; and a music video for "Kind" followed in February 2017.

Lead singer Claire Johnston conceived the album circa 2011. Several years after the release of Africa Blue, her 2004 cover album of jazz and R&B classics, Johnston was contemplating the production of a third solo album to cover "great South African songs". The idea evolved into a Mango Groove project. Around the same time, Johnston and bandleader John Leyden divorced, and Johnston's mother died. "It was a turbulent time but a lot of that energy fed into the album and made it an emotional final product," Johnston said. In October 2015, more than a year in advance of the album, the band released the first single: "Faces to the Sun". At that time the album was to be titled Sing the Beloved Country, with a release planned for March 2016. The double album with the new title was not released (digitally) until late October; the CD release followed a week later. The release date, title, and track list were announced on 7 October 2016.

The album was recorded, arranged, and produced by Andrew Baird and John Leyden at Orangotang Studios in the Sandton suburb of Bryanston.

"The Road", the final song on the album, is dedicated to the memory of Nelson Mandela, who died in 2013.

Shortly before the album's release, bandleader John Leyden commented on the musical collaborations: "We chose iconic South African artists that have been part of our own musical journey and whose amazing voices suited our interpretations of the songs, but at the same time, we also worked with a couple of new and exciting contemporary artists". One of the featured collaborators is former band member "Big Voice Jack" Lerole. Trumpeter and house music artist Mo T (Moshe Kgasoane) also makes an appearance. He is the son of the band's longtime trumpeter, Banza Kgasoane, who died in 2015.


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