kwaye’s voice rises to new heights on ‘paralyzed’

There’s no denying that we at AFROPUNK have long been fans of KWAYE‘s voice. The empathetic soul and emotion that pours out of  Zimbabwe-born Kwayedza Kureya doesn’t just feel right, but holy — a mix of sweetness and empathy and a higher calling. But even to us, “Paralyzed,” from KWAYE’s newly released EP Love & Affliction, sounds extraordinary as though channeling deeper powers.

Co-produced by London-based, Zimbabwean soul-pop hitmaker Rationale, and the young British upstart, Henry Guy, “Paralyzed” has the air of a confession. The mix of voices and synthesizer sets a churchy mood, before KWAYE enters the fray like a man with something to get off his chest: “I’m a walking contradiction/To practice what I preach would be a heavy load to bare,” and later admits to “liv[ing] in fear of truths we hide.”

The unfolding beauty of this song, about a moment of personal indecision, feels like its own reward — yet it also seems only a matter of time that KWAYE’s expression of his truth will happen not in the shadows but the headlining spotlight.

Love & Affliction is out now on Mind of a Genius/Warner Brothers.