Urban contemporary gospel group “We Will Worship Movement” has something in store for its fans this festive season – a two-part series album titled Seasons Volume 1.
The nine-track album was recorded in front of a live audience and features hits such as Ngizolibiza, Rest in You (Mvini) and Mfula. Volume 2 of the group’s fourth musical offering will be released in June next year.
Seasons is a sequel to the 2016 release Mbuso which debuted at #1 overall on Mzansi iTunes and follows other offerings that helped solidify the independent group’s basis in the growing and competitive local gospel industry.
Now with multiple awards under their belt, group founder Langa Mbonambi looks back at their humble beginnings at the University of Johannesburg, where the movement was born from the need to compose contemporary African songs.
Mbonambi says it’s been an “unbelievable” eight-year run that has led them to where they are today.
“To be able to produce music that people want to listen to and enjoy is an incredible privilege.
“And to think that even the model that we’ve had for eight years is still going is a remarkable thing for me. You look back and say, ‘wow, thank you God for the people and for the influence that we have right now’.
“Our current album speaks of one of the four seasons, summer. The songs are about a season of joy, where things are going right. This is a time when prayers are answered, there’s peace and things seem easy,” says Mbonambi, adding that Volume 2 will deal with the gloomy side of life when things don’t make sense.
“We were just thinking about our own personal journeys as a collective, and therefore have a multifaceted journey and stories that happened simultaneously. We found in making the music that there is one thing that is constant for us, and that is God in every season.
“The album is also about recognising that even within these seasons of life, God doesn’t change,” says Mbonambi, reflecting on the music they write on their own.
The group comprises four vocalists, and many other band members, including poets, who all play a crucial role in “delivering messages from God”.
“We try our best to connect to people by reflecting our truthful lives that we live off stage through music. We do this so that we don’t come across as these perfect, high-and-mighty people, but actually show that we are real people with real stories, real issues.
“We always just want to remain true to who we are and run our race at our own pace as authentically as possible,” he says.
Except for two members of the music family, they all maintain other professions outside the music industry, which Mbonambi says demands that they put in extra effort to produce music that is of a high standard.
Extending the work of ministry, the group also hosts First Fridays, a platform created to inspire a Friday night worship culture in and around Joburg.
