Zomba-based musical group Malawi Police Orchestra Wednesday announced that it was ready with its new album titled Ndife Amodzi.
The band has over the years failed to work on fresh songs and has relied on songs that were recorded during the time of late States Samangaya.
The group’s band leader Inspector Andy Kamangwa, who played his part in composing some of the songs in the album, admitted that they were supposed to do better in terms of giving people new songs.
“Malawi Police Orchestra is one of the oldest bands in the country and it has contributed massively to the growth of the creative sector but there have been moments where we have been inactive,” Kamangwa said.
He said the band was on top during the times of the late States Samangaya and that they have kept up the group’s steam despite not recording new songs.
“People have been asking us to when we would come up with new songs but at times you need not to rush. Music needs time and I guess we were giving ourselves that time,” Kamangwa said.
He said the band was intact and that their dropping the 14-track album was proof that they were still continuing with the journey that Samangaya and others, started.
“We know we still need to do more and that includes live performances but we are pushing. We would like to thank our director Pitt Mankhambira, who has been working hard to make sure the band, keeps working and the Inspector General,” Kamangwa said.
He also hinted that they will be breathing life to some of the old songs that were done during the late Samangaya’s time.
“We cannot run away from these old songs. It is through these old songs that the band is still there and so, we are looking reworking them,” Kamangwa said.
Sub Inspector Francis Chipofya said they have tried as much as possible to remain relevant and appeal to all.
“We did not want to move away from our style, we wanted to be more careful and that is what we have done. We have made sure that we remain as Malawi Police Orchestra and at the same time also tap into the current sounds so, as to appeal even to the younger generation,” Chipofya said.
Through the new album, the group has focused on topics such as love, unity, gender-based violence and community policing.
Recorded by OBK at OBK Studios in Blantyre, Malawi Police Orchestra has since released five promotional songs and these are ‘Community Policing’, ‘Ndife Amodzi’, ‘Mwayamba Chani’, ‘Sanachimwepo’ and ‘Nkhondo Mnyumba.
