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Aug 8, 2018Each moment here is, though often minimally produced, fully realized. Together, Okzharp and Manthe Ribane are somehow even greater than the sum of their parts, and what they have made here promises a sonically-jeweled future.
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The WireJul 26, 2018Closer Apart is a dazzling bilingual synth pop album that blends the wavy bass and beats of kwaito and gqom with postgrime and UK funky. [Aug 2018, p.58]
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Jul 16, 2018While their evolution in favour of modern soul perhaps won’t fill as many dancefloors as their earlier releases, Closer Apart is one of the most life-affirming and addictive records of the year, from a collaboration that truly justifies its existence.
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Jul 16, 2018Her robotic sing-song is more unsettling than affecting, and the synth backing is never quite immersive. Spontaneity is often this pair's strength, but with more ambitious ideas it limits them.
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Q MagazineJul 16, 2018An exercise in restraint. [Aug 2018, p.114]
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Jul 16, 2018On paper, the decision to mix the raw invention their early work with the melodic catharsis of jazz and gospel sounds fascinating, while Closer Apart’s weirdly gorgeous companion video makes a case for Okzharp & Manthe Ribane as an enthralling visual act. But the album itself feels frustratingly limp, making you wish Okzharp & Ribane had stayed true to the kinetic force that lit up their EPs.
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Jul 16, 2018Compared to their past work, the album lacks intensity and seems to rely on a heterogeneity of unrefined styles, making it seem more like an album of covers that flirts too closely to the tired hip-hop trope of a single, aimless verse.