With Valentine’s Day swiftly approaching, many people have begun making preparations to make it an unforgettable day for their loved ones.
As millions of people celebrate this day of love, multi-award-winning singer Selaelo Selota, renowned for his soulful songs and compelling performances, is excited to share a taste of his new music with his fans.
Selota’s much-anticipated album, “Pelong”, is set to be launched on Valentine’s Day at Level Seven Restaurant & Sky Bar, perched at the top of the Radisson Hotel in Kempton Park.
He told The Star that he decided to launch on the day to “follow and embrace the theme of love”.
‘’Valentine’s Day has become one of the most significant days in my life. We live in a country that paints a worrying image of gender-based issues. Valentine’s Day carries a very important message in that, without debate or arrangement, it fosters one’s thinking about expressing love and affection.
“Valentine’s Day is also an important day in my career and industry, as it also brings about a sense of celebration, and music will always be part of the expression of love and celebration,’’ he said.
“Pelong”, which is loosely translated as “In the Heart”, consists of nine songs, and Selota says it was inspired by the journey of life, which we all find ourselves in from “career, state of health, family and love”.
“Songs on this album express love as experienced from childhood, love as experienced through adulthood, and love as experienced through personal relationships. From the first song to the last one, there is a thread of this essence.”
With this album, he hopes people can take and recognise love in all aspects, further highlighting the highlights of bringing it to life.
“Some of the biggest highlights of the songs are being able to trace and translate into a song the sense of love I feel from my mother. A sense of love I felt from my great-grandmother, being able to express affectionate love for my partner and for my children.
“At times, we feel a void in our hearts. A longing that cannot be described, and loneliness. It was during those times that I began thinking about someone I love, how I feel about them, and imagining the road that would lead me to them. This is how the title of the album was created.’’
He said his listeners can expect to experience a musician, a writer, and a storyteller “who uses this phrase of my musical career as a celebration of my life”.
“My fans will experience what I can describe as ‘the Full Circle Selaelo Selota’, in the spheres of the music, the business, the mentor, and the performer.”
Selota, who has eight albums under his belt, wrote all the songs on the new album.
And as part of his One Country Foundation, which also saw him launch the One Country Concert in the year 2022, he decided to collaborate with some of the artists he has been mentoring, in this latest offering.
“I have been finding and mentoring new artists that I have now featured as a way of exposing them to the public and launching their music careers. The title track, ‘Pelong’, features Tshego Rakgoale from Polokwane, Ga-Mothiba. Also featured in the album is a fantastic young singer from Seshego named Doyen, and lastly, Mahlatse Tshesane from Sekhukhune,” he said.
The Star
anita.nkonki@inl.co.za