The Drakensberg Boys Choir School is located in the mountains in the province of KwaZulu-Natal‚ three hours from Durban․ The capital city of Eswatini‚ Mbabane‚ is where a young Manana began his six years of choral training and subsequently moved to the University of Cape Town‚ where he graduated with a distinction in jazz vocal performance‚ and a postgraduate diploma in jazz vocal performance․ He has also worked on other people’s songs‚ appearing on Burna Boy’s Grammy-winning Twice As Tall‚ as well as writing for Usher‚ Tyla‚ Nasty C‚ Sauti Sol‚ Amanda Black‚ Ami Faku‚ and Shekinah․ When he sent a demo to Cynthia Erivo‚ he heard her version and almost cried․ He said that feeling is miles better than being on stage and being cheered for․ A 2026 Standard Bank Young Artist for Music and 2023 SAMA winner for Best R&B/Soul Album‚ he still says that he’d rather write the song than sing it․
R&B has always been better at wanting than at walking away․ A hundred records about needing someone‚ the hunger and the obsession and the plea‚ and almost none about the physical act of stopping․ Not heartbreak․ Heartbreak is the genre’s oldest subject and not really about leaving at all․ The singer of a heartbreak song has already been left‚ and is usually still reaching for the one who left․ It is not often we see the other song‚ the one where the singer picks up the phone and presses decline‚ tells the family calling on someone else’s behalf that he is not coming․ Writing that song is a different job․
On his second release‚ it really isn’t what it is‚ “Calendar” is what R&B always does‚ he asks to be put in her calendar‚ says no matter where‚ he is hers‚ whatever she needs․ One line mentions the cost of devotion: “I’ll spend my time ‘til I’m poor/Just to show you that I am yours” but the rest is just her saying what she needs and him saying he can do it․ It never goes anywhere past the opening offer․ In the second verse he says he’ll beg and plead‚ whatever she says‚ and then allows she might be getting bored․
When family visit in “No!,” wondering where she has fallen‚ and if there is something he can do‚ he replies with the title․ Don’t hit his line‚ he doesn’t have the time‚ he’s letting go․ “I gotta use my spine/See it and press decline” puts the whole act of saying no in the body‚ spine as a thing you have to summon‚ decline as a physical motion with a finger on a screen․ Why the repeated line goes nowhere and says: “I won’t save her/’Cause I’m no savior/I’m no better/I’m no better/I’m no better․” A lie would have been much better than the bitter truth‚ the first verse said․ The second calls it hide and seek‚ says she played to cheat‚ says what he found left him in disbelief․ She pleads and begs‚ and it’s all the same to him․
For a relationship to be reduced to that interminable conversation every Monday morning that ends in the same stalemate․ At that point the departure is complete․ Nobody moves․ Nobody concedes that the decision has already been made․ The relationship is a dead loop․ Manana and Kali Claire trade sides of that stalemate on “Talking Stages,” where he states he’s done with the back and forth and pushes her to the side‚ says he doesn’t need her in his life․ While the piano and live drums carry weight, her verse won’t let go that cleanly․ “I won’t fight for my way/If your way show me how to do it all better/But there’s still things that you could’ve changed․”
Regarding the subject of “No More‚” violence changes what leaving means․ There is no negotiation anymore‚ no stalemate to sit inside of․ Then‚ weeks gone by and no more weeks‚ months gone by‚ he’s sitting there‚ staring at her‚ begging‚ crying‚ regretting every letter he was yelling‚ while she was sitting‚ crying from all the violence․ She asks him not to tell her what he misses‚ that she heard everything he said and won’t forget․ Lusanda’s verse took the keys․ He left her to freeze‚ lies with every touch and she is done․ “New rules/I’ll take the keys and lead‚ don’t interrupt/I know the way‚ the road is clearing up․” Lusanda’s own pre-chorus forgives and departs in the same breath․ “I forgive but I can’t break/Took a leap‚ had all the faith/Too much riding on this break/I know part of love is making mistakes․” Forgiving and leaving at the same time‚ and meaning both․
By now someone has always left or been told to leave or been pushed to the side․ The bags are packed and the gifts gathered․ The fighting has lost to the silence․ On “Remember Me,” the question is whether any of it registered․ If he goes now‚ will she remember? He’s packed all the gifts she gave him․ If he just decided enough with all the fighting․ A songwriter spends years learning how to build love songs for other people’s voices․ But in the end‚ when he sits down to write under his own name‚ it becomes clear that the best songs in this body of work aren’t the love songs at all․ They are the ones in which the no is called‚ the phone is set down‚ the door is considered and the question is asked whether any of it will be remembered․
Solid (★★★½☆)
Favorite track(s): “No!,” “No More,” “Remember Me”