Album of the week: Too Bold by Shingai

Each week our music editor Dave Randall picks an album (with a local connection) you need to hear …

Too Bold by Shingai

Shingai Shoniwa has enjoyed international success for some time, but as several of the tracks on her new album underline, she remains very much in touch with her Zimbabwean heritage and her South London roots.

She is a phenomenal signer and performer and all round good-egg. Many of you will know her as the front person and bass player of indie band the Noisettes.

Too Bold is her first full-length solo album. The production is pristine, influences eclectic and lyrical content personal, political and poignant.

The intro, Too Dark? is a particularly moving reminder of the challenges faced by artists of colour – a theme picked up again on the life-affirming title track Too BoldSouth London Safari is, in part, a bitter-sweet love letter to our neck of the woods.

album cover

It’s a great album. Check it out. 

Dave Randall is a musician and author of Sound System: The Political Power of Music