A weary effortless-ness imbues Piet Botha’s first Afrikaans studio album in eight years. It’s not the weariness of ennui or of rote. It’s a worldly acceptance of the enormous weight of time that makes the bluer side of rock’n’ roll the contradiction that it is: both a vital expression of the immediacy of life being lived and an atemporal testament to the eternal tropes of existence. What is Piet Botha? Elder statesman of South African rock, certainly, even if Minister without Portfolio. But also, on Spookpsalms, a channel for sweetly painful luisterliedjies and some fragile sketches of towns, cemeteries and lives we’ve all reluctantly passed through at some time. A beautiful album, for those who know what they’re listening to.

Key Tracks: "Stad sonder Naam", "Spookjam", "Winternag"