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Tonashe Mutero Own Correspondent—
Progress Chipfumo has through his latest offering shown that he has really come of age. As has become the norm with all his albums, the current offering “Progress Check” ticks all boxes. The lyrics are clean and well thought out, the mix is balanced, need I mention the vocals and arrangement? Listening to the album and reflecting on the album title gives one a strong conviction that Chipfumo knew he had unleashed a package of classics. Most importantly you can easily notice that Progress respects listeners, the album is not rushed. It is a classic that will stand firm, years after all of today’s trends vanish.
All the songs do not stray from the signature, Proggy sound, it is just the expert and clean makes the album outstandingly mature and a joy to listen. The sound is clear with great separation. It is almost like you are hearing a live performance in a theatre, while listening to these songs you can easily pick out any element in the mix and listen to it, from the main melody to supporting percussion. Chipfumo’s music is guitar driven and here he roped in the services of two of Zimbabwe’s most creative and talented guitarists Clive Mono Mukundu and Maselo to produce the work.
The currency in Progress’s music has always been in the message. On the album, he addresses a range of themes which include but not limited to obedience, spirituality and love. Issues of hope and mutual respect cut across all the songs. In some of the songs they are overt yet in other songs its either his soothing voice or the music which just energise you. The music defies the uncertainty of hope. Everything becomes real and possible to conquer. The utility of African music comes from its ability to speak to our lived realities as well as to foretell the future.
Perhaps knowing that a song is a prayer doubled, Progress decided to give us two versions of the song Look up to the Sky as well as ‘‘Dai ndaiziva’’ solemn prayers thanking the Lord for his over flowing grace. Often, as we chase material wealth we overlook some of the most important things the Lord does for us, like overlooking on our families, giving us life. Progress prayed in song reminding us of to be thankful of the very simple things which make life. ‘‘Siyai vakure’’ which has potential to be the runaway hit Chipfumo encourages the society to nurture and give space to children to realise their potential. Differently, put Proggy encourages individuation, whose agency requires a mature sense of autonomy and independence, but without isolation and alienation. It is also a song in which he pleads to whoever has been holding him down to let him bloom. “Vabereki” a Mbaqanga song has potential to compete for the hit tag or at least it will be very popular with mature listeners. Other songs completing the album include, “Tokwe Murkosi”, “Vakarohwa Mai”, “I say Yes”, “Rega Zvipore” and “Dai Ndaiziva”.
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