South African producer DESIREE and South Sudanese-Canadian vocalist Emmanuel Jal have released a new collaborative single, “Macho,” via Ninja Tune.
The track merges DESIREE’s Afro house production with Jal’s vocals in four languages: Kiswahili, Nuer, Arabic, and English. Its structure draws on the call-and-response traditions of African music.
“This song was born between journeys, stages, and conversations that brought different worlds together,” DESIREE shared on Instagram. “Emmanuel Jal and I first performed it together in London and Nairobi, and it’s been special to watch people connect with it.”
Jal added: “This song brings together all my languages. Nuer is my mother tongue from South Sudan, where I was born; Arabic comes from Sudan; and Kiswahili and English are from the countries that shaped me, Kenya, England and Canada. At its heart, it’s a love song inspired by the way we used to express love in the village through call and response, how we would traditionally woo women. I wanted to bring that feeling into a modern Afro house sound.”
The release follows recent performances by DESIREE at London festival GALA and Circoloco in Ibiza. In March, she released a remix of Nina Simone‘s “Four Women.”
