:: Nibs van der Spuy - Beautiful Feet

Nibs van der Spuy

Nibs van der Spuy, what a cool name, sings his spin on South African music just beautifully. His album, Beautiful Feet, is graceful, sometimes poignant, sometimes quiet, always rich with meaning and laden with soft notes that are hard hitting. Songs like “Dreams of Believers” whispers slowly and lovely, others like “Hiding in the Sugar Cane” are charged with the richness of a voila. Nibs may be like a softer South African version of Pete Murray. His music is spiritually rich, of a traditional South African theme, with English words and a hollowly echoing, resounding voice. He sings soft soothing South African music - it isn’t the tribal over zealous orchestra associated with some modern day African music. This may be sweet to listen to, but his lyrics are real - he does not cater for an overly optimistic audience. South Africa has a past and this is apparent in songs like “ Sad Melody” and “It’s Been a Sad Day”. Yet no songs on the album surpass the title track, and “Beautiful Feet” is an irresistibly gentle ballad in which the mundane seems pleasant.