Spare Dog Records is a Bristol based record label which releases and promotes music from Malawi, a small country in Central Southern Africa. We work with our sister project out in Malawi, Moto Wambili Studios, to record a range of original contemporary music from talented artists, in a place where professional recording studios are scarce.
New Album: Gasper Nali – CHULE CHULE IWE
Gasper Nali has just released his 3rd album CHULE CHULE IWE (translates roughly to Hey you, Frog!)
Breezy, beat-driven and entirely unique – Far Out Magazine
Playful and joyful throughout – Songlines Magazine
It’s been 6 long years since Gasper Nali released his sophomore album Zoona Malawi (It’s true, Malawi), a no frills record where everything was recorded right on the beach of Lake Malawi, no cuts or edits. The new album ‘Chule Chule Iwe’ (Hey You, Frog!) is again a more studio oriented record featuring himself, as always; singing, playing his 3-metre one-stringed home-made babatoni bass guitar, and stomping away those impossibly danceable rhythms on a cow skin kick drum with his locally welded monster of a foot pedal.
Beside Gasper is fellow Malawian artist and song writer Luhangah, backing him up with tasty percussion and the occasional vocal chant.
Finishing up the trio is Swedish producer, musician, and long-time collaborator Mattias Stålnacke, playing the guitars, some keys and studio wizardry.
The long gap between albums must be said to be more a victim of circumstance rather than lack of musical output! Initially, Covid-19 made international travel (and collaboration) difficult and in the following years the album had to take shape slowly. Gasper’s touring schedule started to pick up, and it was in the little pockets of tour off-days that songs could be recorded, a few here and a few there. So, the recordings in this album spans the first post-Covid tour in 2022 up to the most recent one last year, with everything often set up on the fly in different locations in the UK and the Netherlands. Of course, some of the songs were written even earlier than that.
The title track Chule Chule Iwe translates roughly to You Frog, You! and is Gasper’s humorous take on a Malawian nursery rhyme. In general, the lyrical theme of this album has a lighter tone compared to earlier work which leaned more into societal commentary. On Chule Chule Iwe we get a more personal Gasper Nali with translated titles such as A Journey, Relaxation, and I’m Grateful.
The album is accompanied by a music video for the title track. Enjoy!
Listen to the album on all standard streaming services (Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Apple Music etc) or even better; buy a download, a physical CD or some great Gasper Nali merch in our BANDCAMP shop. That way more of your cash will go to the artist!
