South African singer-songwriter Bathabise Vokwana, mononymously known as Thabsie, has released her first solo project in almost a decade. Titled While You Wait…, the six-song extended play sees the crooner explore the cavernous nature of love as well as its treacherous terrain one needs to traverse alongside a lover. Assisted by Mzansi trap star Emtee, the project serves as a forerunner to her second forthcoming album.
Thabsie | SUPPLIED
The sextet is a contemporary R&B offering that leans towards slow-tempo production, with the EP borrowing sonic elements from the worlds of trap, afropop, dancehall, and also from the unfamiliar bedfellow of dubstep. Style taken into consideration, Thabsie’s body of work is reminiscent in nature, conjuring soulful influences from the early to mid-2000s through sampled musical relics such as Mina Nawe’s 2006 house classic “Where I Wanna Be” and melodic flips that help Thabsie to pour her creativity into ancient casts. This creative direction gives the EP a quintessentially period-mixing shape, helping the project sustain an old feel while keeping things fresh.
While You Wait…, as a brief ballad bundle, illustrates the tug-o’-war that comes with the pain and pleasure of romantic love. From celebrating love as a wonder on the heartfelt “Kudala” and employing sexual imagery to emphasise the power behind physical romance (“Good Time” and “Body Talk”) to portraying the hurtful downside of complex connections and the drawback of imperfect love (“Hurt” and “Again”), Thabsie’s mini collection depicts the duality of falling and remaining in love.
Thabsie | SUPPLIED
The double-edged structure of the love painted on the project provides a realistic chiaroscuro that makes While You Wait… a relatable entry in Thabsie’s catalogue rather than a fairytale sold for idealistic lovers and hopeless romantics. Ugly as some facets may be, such as the openly toxic arrangement of “Again”, where Thabsie finds herself cycling through and spiralling around the magnetic pull of an unhealthy relationship she can’t seem to free herself from, there are beautiful parts in this journey, highlighting a measure of emotional satisfaction and physical pleasure characteristic of a mutually beneficial relationship where both parties feel seen, recognised, and their needs met.
Serving as a teaser for her upcoming sophomore full-length album, if the EP is a taste-testing sample of what her next album will be, the album is sure to be a fuller and much more extensive interpretation of love, of complexity within the context of human connection, and of the power dynamics that control the scales of affection.
Preview the EP:
