Amandawe (South Africa) based artist Desire Marea (born Buyani Duma) will release his second solo album, On the Romance of Being, on Mute in April 2023. After a recent calling to train as Sangoma - a traditional Nguni spiritual healer – the album is immersed in the communal, ceremonial and healing qualities of music, sonically taking in post-gospel, spiritual jazz and the ancient music of the Nguni and Ndau peoples.

Desire, his 2020 debut album, was one of Rough Trade’s Albums of the Year and BBC 6Music’s Album of the Day. The album traversed electronic genres in an introspective exploration of modern love and loss, drawing in fans from across the globe, including Grace Jones, who went on to invite Desire to perform at her Meltdown Festival at London’s Southbank Centre.

Before his solo career, Desire formed beloved Joburg collective FAKA with creative partner Fela Gucci. FAKA toured the world extensively, with appearances at the 9th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, Unsound Festival (PL), Roskilde (DK), Sonar (ES), and Dark Mofo (AU); made their American debut scoring for Telfar at NYFW; achieved icon status by partnering with Versace to soundtrack their S/S 2019 menswear show and were featured in the Vogue World 100 and Dazed 100 lists.

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