Artist

Karel Bester

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Old Soul, Young Body. Karel Bester hearkens back, but writes the future.

Karel’s baritone is deceptive. If it were not for the crisp production, I would not blame you for mistaking ‘Afrikaner Outlaws’ as a long lost Afrikaans Johnny Cash b-side. Karel is a thoroughbred folk-punk hybrid with Oppikoppi heritage and American speed-country pedigree. With a little boeremusiek mixed in for heritage. ‘Afrikaner Outlaws’ is in fact timeless. Although it does sound like the Klipwerf Boere Orkes is backing Kris Kristofferson, it exists in an ethereal space. It's barely tangible. It encourages young Afrikaans speakers to find tradition in rebellion. The speaker in the song is tough. A sad harlequin. A charismatic bar fly. His sweat is tapped as battery acid. He wears a python as a belt, but he is not shallow. “Ons skaaf en skraap die pad wat ons verdien” (We make and scrape the path we deserve). A deceptive Möbius strip of a phrase. It captures the inherited sin, guilt, disenfranchisement and resilience of a generation of Afrikaans speakers. Maybe the best way forwards is backwards? One thing is for sure, this song is going straight to the top of the charts.

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