It's been a while since Gemma's breakout into the arena with her feature on Winky D's Mugarden. She had begun her journey in music a longtime back but that song finally introduced her to the masses. It was a detour from her folk music roots but she pulled it off effortlessly. Her delving into the Zim dancehall genre did not stop there but she went on to record Titungamire with Chillspot Records which blended multiple influences from her own music and the Chillspot sound. And from the moment I first listened to Mugarden I was instantly a fan of Gemma.
Pamwe EP is finally here and it's part of the many highlights of the amazing year Gemma has had. Recently the music star was honoured as the Female Artist of the Year at the 2020 ZIBA awards. She has also been nominated to represent Zimbabwe in the Mtv Africa's listeners choice category.
Gemma released her first EP in 2018. This EP contained 4 songs including “My Town” and”Musarova Bigman”. She launched this EP in Harare, Cape Town and London, where many people have embraced her music.
In 2018 Gemma began her newest project – to write an album on the road, and has since moved a studio into a Landrover Defender, and driven over 24,000km through 10 countries in Southern and East Africa. Now, in 2020, the project is still ongoing, with over 500 days on the road, Gemma is building up to her Debut Album. Pamwe EP is here while we wait.
The first single released from this project was Ndinewe. The song is vibrant and beautifully balances afrofusion influences with a gentle electro house sound. In its essence the song is a love. "Ndinewe" or "I'm with you" is it's consistent message throughout. Gemma delivers beautiful vocals that are perfectly in tune with the instrumental. The track was released several months before the EP officially came out and it has aged like fine wine since then.
A remix of Ndinewe was done by Gemma featuring Linex and Barakah the Prince from Tanzania but the track wasn't featured on Pamwe EP. +263 is the single Gemma dropped next alongside Asaph and Nutty O.
Gemma kicks off the song with, "Moyo wangu wakamerera pauri..." It sets off the tone which remains consistent throughout on a softly sang record. The instrumental has the quality of a creation of live instruments and that digital sound is almost completely scrubbed off. Gemma serenades us with beautiful vocals and after my first listen I was already singing along to the chorus; "So call me up, call me up, call me after midnight I'll wait up for you..." Nutty O gives us those Jamaican vibes that have made him a renowned hitmaker and Asaph's hip-hop flavour is the perfect last ingredient needed for this musical concoction.
Iwe is by far my favourite song on this project. It's easy to listen to and you can have on repeat for hours. It's sort of RnB meets house music mees Afrofusion. Gemma is at her level best on this. "Iwe iwe iwe iwe iwe..."
Easy is another fire tune that continues Gemma's streak of delivering hits and it's not just the vocals or instrumental but Gemma's lyricism. Gemma goes, "Baby give me a moment to author a question and context your lies for you. I've been dreaming of heaven and wondering where you could take us to..." The song keeps you hooked from then on.
Only You completes the short EP of just 5 tracks. It reminds me of. Is the perfect track to complete this project. It's just the right kind of euphoric sound but it's also nostalgic. Without a doubt I'm in love with this project. I would only complain it's too short. The project features the production work of Charlie Kay and Simba Tagz whose work was simply brilliant. The guitar was by Matthew ‘Mattlixcs’ Ngorima and the bass by Seb Hill. The song covers were photo's were shot by Marc Neilson with Zetu Live.
Greedysouth rating 7.4/10