The discussion of the burgeoning presence of the trap-soul and alternative R&B scene within the South African musical biome in the past four years would be impossible without the mention of singer-songwriter Elaine. Born Ndivhuwo Mukheli, the Pretoria native’s coronation came as a result of her breakthrough single “You’re the One” and her Elements EP, all of which did more than introduce her to the industry. After a period of stop-start activity through the years, Mukheli has returned with her new single “Waiting On You”. And the BET Award-nominated crooner’s about-face is more than a turnaround, it’s a stylistic U-turn which conjures the form of Elaine back in her early days.
Produced by Linden Jay, Joe Armon-Jones, and Lophiile, “Waiting On You” is a trap-imbued R&B song which lilts with strained piano loops spinning to the metronome of hollow rim clicks and hypnotic finger snaps. The threadbare and almost translucent arrangement in the beginning seconds carpet the song with a slow tempo which serves as a pacemaker to which the rhythm of the sonorous bass rumbles, fleshing out the skeleton of spartan production. With less than three minutes on the clock, Mukheli’s latest single pendulates between the two diametrical musical extremes, allowing Elaine to switch forms within the track.
“Waiting On You” Single Artwork
Portraying the ambivalent lover running on the sparks of remnant romance, Elaine sounds more in her Elements bag than ever with her latest cut. The ease with which she bulks up the weight of her vocals with emotion is only matched by the turgidity of the song as an aggregate, which comes as a result of taking her place atop the instruments. Nothing feels out of place. From the rustic piano keys and the macabre basslines to the vulnerable songwriting and emotive vocal performance, “Waiting On You” is a despairing dance of desperation done for doomed love which seems all but damned to die.
Elaine doesn’t tightrope her way through her feelings on “Waiting On You”, articulating her thoughts through themes of emotional frustration (“I just wish you would make your mind up, babe”), romantic exhaustion (“I don’t wanna play for you, I ain’t with the games”), and seasonal shifts of love (“Know I’ve been away, but that don’t mean I changed”). Following a first verse laced with a fusillade of vignettes of lovers stuck in troubled waters, Elaine rounds up her side of the story with a patient yet thinly veiled ultimatum: “So baby when you’re ready hit my line up.”
Elaine | SUPPLIED
The second verse blunts the blows of the opener, with Elaine assuming a less confrontational stance. The songbird is a mirror version of her “You’re the One” self, not only coddling her lover with tender reassurances (“I don’t need nobody else but you, baby”), but also immolating her well-being to revive the dying embers of their cooling love (“I’ve been tripping on you lately / And you cause me so much pain but I love it, I love it / I got it ready for you, baby, if you want it”). The juxtaposition of the pair of verses paints a picture of conflicted lovers trapped in the cycle of a cat-and-mouse chase.
“Waiting On You” is an exemplary rendition of prime Elaine, which is to say that the action is as painful to watch unravel as it is exquisite to listen to. That has always been Mukheli’s source of strength, the ability to translate turmoil to a tapestry. With her newest offering, this joint from her forthcoming debut album promises that her long-awaited project will be a devastating tragedy sure to keep the miserable warm since such are fond of company.
Listen to “Waiting On You”:
