Kenilworth folk rock musician Casper Ace, 47, and Danish singer and songwriter Martin Høybye, 51 have collaborated on a new single, Where the Water Was.
The single, which was released on iTunes last Friday, is about the impact of the first permanent European settlement at the Cape.
“It shares the impact they had on the local inhabitants, which are the Khoi and the San people and how the inequities of the past still reverberate today in the social and environmental challenges faced by their descendants and many others living with the repercussions of colonialism in the Cape today,” says Ace, whose real name is Gideon Malherbe.
Høybye has released seven albums. His most recent is The Hourglass Sessions, in 2019.
Ace says much of his collaboration with Høybye was done over Zoom and by email, but they also met for a day in Cape Town.
“Telling someone else’s story is a huge responsibility. We had to be careful to ensure we could stand behind every line of the song, since some people may find it to be controversial.”
Høybye says the resilience and resourcefulness inherent in indigenous knowledge are highlighted in the song.
“We as songwriters feel that if we can retrain ourselves to take care of water, in all its forms, we may simultaneously learn to address the challenges of environmental crises in constructive ways.”
Ace has been a musician for over 30 years and has mostly played guitar and sung in bands with Valiant Swart and Koos Kombuis. He released his first solo album, Saam, in 2016.
“The feeling of heartfelt joy and inner peace that I experience when playing guitar and singing, and knowing that the audience can experience it too, is what keeps me performing,” he says.
