New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Cooperative Music) THE VERY BEST make their much-anticipated return this July with second album MTMTMK, the follow-up to their celebrated genre-smashing debut Warm
Heart Of Africa. Comprised of Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya and London-based Swedish producer
Johan Hugo (We Don't Belong in Pacha), the group garnered extensive critical praise for both Warm
Heart of Africa and their string of online mixtapes.
MTMTMK was recorded over five weeks in Esau's hometown of Lilongwe, Malawi. "We had to make a big step with the second album, we had to evolve,"
Johan notes. "This time we wrote, produced and recorded together simultaneously — the way it should be done. It was a much more collaborative effort."
These sounds go much deeper than on the band's debut.
Johan continues, "We always wanted to do pop music with the The Very Best but it comes out twisted… These maintain our spirit, even the darker tracks, and Esau has matured immensely as a singer. We focused more on the totality of songs - faster, dancier, darker."
The album features an impressive list of guest appearances by the likes of Amadou and Miriam, Baaba Mal, K'NAAN, Bruno Mars, Taio Cruz, J-Wow (Buraka Som Sistema), Seye Adelekan, Winston Marshall (Mumford & Sons), MNEK, Moroka and Moment Laudi.
The Very Best first met in a London second-hand shop in 2007 haggling over a bicycle. After
Johan and Radioclit partner Etienne Tron invited Esau into their recording studio, the group recorded their first mixtape which quickly went viral and has amassed 850,000 downloads to date. After the release of 2009's Warm
Heart of Africa, which featured guest spots from a number of artists including MIA and Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig, Etienne departed Radioclit leaving
Johan and Esau to work as a duo on MTMTMK.
MTMTMK is released 16th July on Moshi Moshi Records.
