Between love and letting go

On Under the Sun, Sun-El Musician lets go of perfection, embraces risk and steps boldly into his independent era

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On Under the Sun, Sun-El Musician lets go of perfection, embraces risk and steps boldly into his independent era

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Sometimes even he struggles to categorise his work.

“Sometimes when I look at some of my songs, I don’t even know if I can put them under the Afro House umbrella but I can put them under the dance space,” he says. “I've always not been a person who was kind of feeding into certain spaces since my first single. So it’s always just been, I guess it was just like I was just trying to find newness all the time.”

Newness, for him, often begins with people. Under the Sun is as much about collaboration as it is about sound. Alongside established stars are emerging artists whose names may be unfamiliar; for now. Sun-El has built a reputation for spotting something before the rest of us do.

“There’s always this little special thing,” he says of discovering new voices. “Maybe they could be just singing in a very different way. They have a very different, unique voice that I've never heard before.”

He is drawn to what doesn’t quite fit. “I always liked unique voices so it just feels fresh when it’s introduced, which is very risky. It’s such a hard journey but it’s beautiful. And I just love going through those challenges,” he says. “Can I work with this person? Can I make an Afrikaans song, you know, sound cool to a person who's never even heard Afrikaans?”

Even when working with major names, his process remains rooted in connection. “We firstly have to connect and talk about stories,” he says. “How you grew up or whatever. Just finding a way to connect just as human beings first.”