Apple Music announced South African dance music juggernaughts Mi Casa as the latest addition to its Home Session program, featuring reimagined signature songs and thoughtful covers from artists across various genres.
As part of Apple Music’s Heritage Month campaign called Amaqhawe (meaning hero), the Apple Music Home Session will be celebrating the musical legacies of the South African musicians who used their voices for change, with Mi Casa the first to release their EP.
“We are passionate about our music and always looking for ways to increase the perceived value of music. We think Spatial Audio with Dolby Atmos dramatically enhances the experience for the listener and by doing so it adds value to the music. It’s kind of what 3D did for the cinema you know. For us to be able to record songs we have made and songs we love with this experience for our audience, and strip them down by performing live in our studios is a unique opportunity not only for us but for our fans too. We hope everyone digs it,” Mi Casa tells Apple Music.
“We chose ‘Mamela’ as one of the songs because it’s one of the songs that has achieved a deeper level of meaning both for us and our fans. Getting to strip it down and have it be experienced with the Spatial Audio really gives you that live feel and it allows the lyrics and instruments to really pop at you. It’s an intimate song, the Spatial Audio adds so much to that intimacy.”
“Choosing these songs was really hard but one classic we created was ‘Heavenly Sent’. This track is ten years old and yet it still sounds so fresh, in whatever way it is performed. This is one of our favourite songs as a collective and since we made it back in 2011 we have been stripping it down for live and never actually recorded it, we hope everyone loves it as much as we do.”
“We had an incredible experience when we were able to perform with the legendary Ray Phiri. We performed ‘Zwakala’ with him and we will forever cherish that day. Getting to recreate this classic in our own way was a real highlight of this Apple Music Home Session. Lyrically it’s such a great song and we hope we’ve added to that song’s legacy.”
The Home Session EP, exclusively available to stream on Apple Music in Spatial Audio, highlights Mi Casa’s ability to concoct a tantalising blend of dance and jazz elements, with two exclusive unplugged tracks from the house music mavens, namely “Mamela” off their last album ‘We Made It’ and “Heavenly Sent” off their debut album, ‘Mi Casa.’ The EP also features a cover of Ray Phiri’s iconic track “Zwakala (Come To Me).”
