John Wizards have followed their stunning debut record with the release of a new single off said record.
“Muizenberg” comes with a pair of excellent remixes by Seiji and The 2 Bears, the latter of which is the without question the loveliest, most lush thing I’ve heard in this still young year.
The track patiently builds for 4:00 minutes, a mesmerizing blippy but fairly straightforward rework of the original tracks traditional afropop groove.
The result is reminiscent of Terje’s edit of Paul Simon’s “Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes” but the track suddenly shifts into low gear and turns into a whispery Balearic sunrise prayer with serious Frankie Knuckles vibes.
The vocal treatments and atmospherics are so remarkably emotive it takes my breath away every time.
The 2 Bears’ take on “Muizenberg” (named after the beach town in Cape Town) is a musical version of that moment in The Beach where the hippies all excitedly run through the jungle brush and finally break through and find themselves on the untouched sands of a perfect cove.
Feels so real to me.
John Wizards – Muizenberg (The 2 Bears Remix) by Planet Mu Records