Whether it’s for the dance floors or joyous jamborees with friends and family, Lady Zamar has got it all. Multi-SAMA-winning singer-songwriter Yamikani “Lady Zamar” Banda has released her third solo studio album titled Rainbow, following her sophomore album Monarch back in 2019.
Consisting of twelve tracks, Rainbow is a polygenic escapade solely produced by “Tjina” hitmaker MegaDrumz. Sitting comfortably atop a foundation of traditional house, the texture of the album is coarse and smooth in equal and alternating measure with an array of different genres coming in and out of earshot, including amapiano, 3 Step, afrobeats, R&B, dancehall, and a smidge of rock music.
Lady Zamar’s strength has always been about being a beacon of positive vibes and positioning herself as the epicenter of feel-good music. Thematically, the songwriting in the album mimics those of her past works in her stellar catalogue, exploring themes such as the celebration of life (“Our Love”), the unbridled expression of joy (“Party In Heaven”), the thrill that comes with the search of love and a touch of philophobia (“Feelings”). Drum-heavy as most of the songs are, the layered additions of other elements and the delicate but clever weaving of other genres, whether through electric guitar riffs or restrained piano strings, plays perfectly into Zamar’s happy musicality.
Banda doesn’t do much to keep up with the times on Rainbow, opting to stay true to her best turf: house and dance. However, her retaining her personality – which has won her accolades, respect, and commercial and critical success – is what makes her LP a refreshing album in the music scene which has been, in the past several years, dominated by amapiano. And while she does dabble with piano, her versatility in incorporating the genre through alternating between deep and bouncy log drums (as on “Blame Game” and “Sweet Fire”) bears testimony to her artistry: she’s not pandering to the wave. In essence, she’s growing her own style by feeding off what’s popping without turning her back on her DNA.
Watch “Castles”:
Highlights in the album are difficult to come by as is with any project where the artist does their damnedest to wring their mind, soul, and spirit of all the creativity within those faculties. Yamikani is hardly off-colour in her album; she exploits the pocket of what she knows best, singing to house production, without remaining in it long enough for a bad performance to catch her cold. Whether she’s finessing afrobeats as on “Angel” or creating an immersive jazzy experience with “Sweet Fire”, Zamar’s is never flatfooted vocally, pushing her performances and the limits of her singing well beyond the heights she’s been known to be able to clock before.
Rainbow may be not much different from what exists in Zamar’s past works in her catalogue, but she embodies the reality that one never has to sell out to remain relevant. Save for a few touch ups, Banda is still the same soft-cored ball of energy and love she was on King Zamar and Monarch; the only difference is that she now comes with different flavoured casings – all of them completely delightful.
