Jeremiah Ndjoze
Following an eight year break from the music scene one of Namibia’s perceived musical dinosaurs, Menrose Harakuta – known in music circles only as Menrose – has finally sprung back to life, armed with a 14-tracked album.
The album is made up of joints that are contemporary and digestible, yet as diverse as the man’s gang of followers.
The veteran gospel singer is out of the woods to prove that he is in no way a pleasant-sounding relic, but still a force to reckon with on the live music arena. The album appropriately titled, ‘Ever Living,’ was recorded at Olloy Marius Recording Studios.
With the title track, the gospel musician gives honour to God and his omnipresence. Dipped in his signature alternative rock sound ‘Ever Living’ is set to become a bathroom anthem in many a household with catchy and easy to the ear lyrics. ‘My Source’ speaks of God’s characteristic ability to ‘make a way, where there seem to be no way.’ The song promotes a gospel of love and grace without condemnation. You will find yourself humming along to the heart pounding and retrospective ‘Crazy World.’ From this guitar driven track Menrose mellows it down in ‘Melchizedek’ with its ska rocksteady like groove. While the festive season slowly drawing to a close, the song ‘Tribute to loved ones’ is still relevant with a message that partly speaks to the conscience of the road user with safety as the underlying message. Still socially conscious, Menrose takes on teenage pregnancies on other social ills in the song entitled, ‘Young life.’
The song ‘Shepherd of my Soul’ is undoubtedly one of the tools that Menrose intends to use to positively stir up the faith of believers so as to launch them into new levels of Christianity. Before reminding them to fix their eyes on the prize in ‘All eyes on Jesus.’
Who is Menrose?
Menrose is a contemporary Christian crossover singer/songwriter. Born and bred in Windhoek, his music ranges from spiritual acoustic ballad to energetic power pop and modern alternative rock. Having a love for the whole body of Christ, he is exceptionally gifted at switching with ease from genre to genre. This is complimented by his silky vocal deliveries and instrumental prowess, particularly the classic guitar. With four albums to his name, the arts teacher has been criticized for taking long intervals in between projects, a trend he attributed to his perfectionist nature.
“I refuse to give my listeners half baked music. And because most of my instruments are recorded live it also takes a bit time to get the musicians together,” Menrose told Entertainment Now this week. He is currently working on a media launch for the project, which will eventually be followed by the CD launch in the first quarter of this year.