South African musician Majozi has been off our radar for a minute but has made his return with not one but three new singles in the space of four months.
The Indie-pop star released “Safe In The Sound” in March, “Honest” in April and his most recent offering is “I’ll Be There”, which dropped on June 2.
It’s catchy chorus, “It’s been a little crazy lately, but you know you can always find me, I’ll be there for you. When you heart is filled with endless sorrow, and you need a little strength to borrow, I’ll be there for you”, speaks of a higher power.
However, Majozi would much rather have listeners attach their own meaning to the song.
He explained: “I’m trying to phase out explaining what my songs are about because I like hearing people attach their own meaning to the songs. I believe that the best art, is art that you can interpret yourself.
“So even though there might be lyrics to the music, you can still have your own meaning to that.
“There is no right and wrong interpretation. This art is yours, as much as I get to facilitate the creation of it, I am just a vessel trying to portray a message,” said the artist.
Speaking about the real inspiration behind “I’ll Be There”, Majozi shared that he wrote it after writing “Falling” in 2021, which was a song to his wife who was struggling with depression and anxiety at the time.
“Through that journey I realised that there was not much I could do as a person, but the only thing I could do was be there. Then I realised even just being there was sometimes hard to do, sometimes I would be there physically but maybe not mentally.
“I am a man of faith, so the one thing that I know is that God is always there for us, so even me, in my human capacity, I can’t always be there, even when I try to be, and that’s where we have God.”
He described the single as “a powerful declaration of divine and unconditional love”.
During the interview Majozi admitted that with the pandemic came a loss of confidence in himself, but after jamming with a Canadian group called Neon Green, he found his inspiration and motivation to start his musical journey again.
“I lost a bit of confidence, just trying to figure out what kind of music I was going to make, I wasn’t feeling inspired. And through the collaborations I did, mainly with a great band called Neon Green from Canada, that kind of inspired me to begin and it filled me up with a bit more inspiration.
“There were amazing, super encouraging, amazing songwriters and just very kind. And they gave me the courage to start writing songs again and enjoy what I was doing,” he said.
He said: “The process of making music is amazing, I think a lot of artists struggle with everything outside, but making the music is fun, it’s great and helps me express myself and those guys just helped reinvigorate that.
“I’ve been writing since 2021. Now we are here and I am finally ready to release these song to the world, which is the hardest part.
“I’ve been busy with live show around the country, I recently played at the Splashy Fen festival. But I wanted to make sure that when I released the music I had the time to dedicate to it.”
The recently independent artist said that he and his record label, Universal, came to a mutual understanding to go their separate ways.
“I was with them for eight years and they helped me start my career, but it just came to thing where mutually we understood that it would be more beneficial if we went our own separate ways. I still chat to them, but going forward all my music is independent.”
He said that unlike others artists, he is fortunate enough to be in a time when there’s been so many other people who have walked the path before him, so he is able to learn how to be independent through them.
“I’ve also been in the industry for about 10 years now and through the label and my friends in the industry, I have the privilege of having access to a lot of information and people.
“So it is easier for me to grasp the concept of being independent and trying to figure out how I can still make a living and not lose any of that momentum I’ve built over the years.“
Regarding what’s in the pipeline, he said: “My plan is to get my album ready by the end of the year. I don’t have a date yet or a name, but it’s in the works. All the songs are already done, it’s just a matter figuring what I want to do.
“You’re probably going to be tired of me after this year and the following year because I am going to be everywhere.
“There’s a lot of music and a bunch of shows. Thank you for all the support, please keep supporting me, without you (fans) I wouldn’t be able to do this, and if you see me, come say hi.”
“I’ll Be There” is available on all streaming platforms.