Watching Wonderboom perform live tons of times since becoming “mondig” in the mid 1990’s has always been a highlight for me and I have to admit that I’ve never gotten tired of them They’re definitely one of my favorite live acts in the SA Music scene.
More info about Wonderboom
From festivals to nightclubs, the band just kicks ass consistently! Wonderboom have much to be proud of. They have released 8 albums, headlined every major SA festival, been nominated for 5 SAMA’s and won a Kanna Award & People Crystal Award in 2003 for South Africa’s hottest band. They also won the South African leg of the 2004 Global Battle of the Bands & came second worldwide, all while maintaining the level of music that audiences love.
Cito, Martin Schofield and Wade Williams, the founding members of WONDERboom, have been writing songs and performing together for over 22 years and are showing no signs of halting the rollercoaster.
Great news is that these South African music legends have released a brand new single entitled ‘Great Escape’. It’s the first new material they’ve released since ‘The Automatic Shuffle’ five years ago.
“’Great Escape’ is about escaping evil with the one you love and the adventure in solidarity. A classic sci-fi fairy tale of ‘us vs them’,” explains frontman, Cito.
The single is the first from their forthcoming and 9th studio album, which has not been titled yet. The album was originally in the works back in 2013, but the passing of drummer Garth Mcleod that same year was a massive shock to the band, fans and the music industry as a whole. 3 years later, Wonderboom are back with an incredible single and working on completing their new album which is due for release in October.
Cito further explains, “Every time we work on a new album, we approach the recording process differently. This time around, we made our first demos, work shopped the new songs in the rehearsal space and then tried them out live to get the best feel before deciding on arrangements.
We want to really capture our live essence in our new music. Although we’re having fun with production in studio, the songs must be able to be performed without the dependency of production. In other words, these songs must stand on their own legs and be strong – electrically or acoustically.
We’ve also really been having fun, exploring new ideas in the way we play our instruments and write songs. We want this new album to represent us as a band. This is also the first studio album with Jonathan Bell (who replaced Garth McLeod in 2013) behind the drums.”
Celebrating 20 years in the music industry, Wonderboom are one of South Africa’s longest standing Rock bands and boast an impressive catalogue of songs which include the hits ‘Never Ever’, ‘Something Wrong’, ‘Jafta Rebel’, along with their legendary rendition of èVoid’s hit ‘Shadows’. ‘Great Escape’ is an incredible return from a band who continues to cement their legendary place in an industry where artists come and go over night.
Click here to stream the single on Spotify or check out the music video for the song below:
If you have not seem them live or if you’d like to see them again, you can catch Wonderboom live at Radium Beer Hall in Johannesburg on the 9th of July, at Oppikoppi in August or at Bokjol in September.
Watch this space for regular updates in the Music Videos category on Running Wolf’s Rant.
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