Pierre Kwenders pays joyous tribute on “Papa Wemba”

thefader.com:

Since his 2014 debut LP Le Dernier Empereur Bantou, Pierre Kwenders has been an invaluable force in Canadian music with his experimental and playful approach to Congolese rumba.

Today, Kwenders is announcing his third album José Louis and the Paradox of Love, due out on April 29 via Arts & Crafts, and today you can hear its lead single "Papa Wemba." The new song is a tribute to the legendary Congolese musician that brought rumba to the world, an accomplishment that has informed Kwenders' own work. "In my opinion, music has no boundaries," Kwenders said when we spoke in 2017 before the release of his excellent second album MAKANDA at the End of Space, the Beginning of Time. "Papa Wemba" is a continuation of that philosophy, tossing rumba's addictive, funky sound in Kwenders' own unique gumbo of influences.

Read Next: Pierre Kwenders puts on for his Moonshine Collective with new single “Douk Saga” The best way to experience "Papa Wemba" for the first time is in its music video, directed by Daniel Amoakoh.

Kwenders and his entourage look like catwalk stars in the making as they groove for a fish-eye lens in front of what could be a backdrop for a Vogue photoshoot.