PRODUCED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COVID-19 LOCKDOWN

Peter Mawanga and Trevor Bystrom have never been in the same room together. In fact, for the duration of their unlikely friendship, the two have never even been on the same continent. And yet, despite the ocean between them, the duo has managed to emerge from COVID-19 lockdowns with a collaborative EP as delightful as it is unexpected, one that fuses American and Malawian culture into an adventurous, inventive, and deeply moving testament to our shared humanity.

“Music is the universal language,” says Mawanga. “We live in a global village these days, and songs have no borders or boundaries.”

Mawanga & Bystrom is proof of that. Recorded remotely at Bystrom’s studio in Holmes Beach, Florida, and Mawanga’s Amaravi studio in the East African nation of Malawi, the six-track EP is a celebration of connection and unity, mixing traditional Malawian rhythms and instruments—like the nsansi (thumb piano), visekese (shakers), and marimba (xylophone)—with contemporary American folk and rock music to craft a sound that’s at once foreign and familiar, joyful and meditative, playful and profound. The songs here are relentlessly optimistic, insistent on brighter days to come and the primacy of love, and the performances are buoyant to match, overflowing with intoxicating, effervescent energy. Mawanga and Bystrom split the writing and share the vocal duties on the collection, which is delivered in English, Chichewa, and Shona, and the two trade off verses as if they’ve been collaborating their entire lives, their voices blending with an instinctual ease that belies the great distance separating them. Neither would describe the process as easy, of course, but both will say without a doubt that it was more than worth the considerable effort to craft not only a remarkable record, but a lasting friendship.

“Peter comes from a completely different world than me,” says Bystrom, “and he’s lived a completely different life. But as we found ourselves going through quarantine together and learning about each other’s experiences and families and cultures, we realized just how much we actually had in common.”

Born and raised in Florida, Bystrom developed a passion for world music at an early age, falling in love first with the sounds of the Caribbean and later immersing himself in the work of a wide array of African artists. At sixteen, he began performing live and writing his own songs, blending folk, blues, rock, and soul with an eclectic palette of international influences and wrapping it all up in lyrics calling for peace, understanding, and equality.

“I’ve always just loved exploring music from different cultures,” Bystrom reflects. “One of my favorite things as an artist is to hear a piece of music where I have no idea what’s going on and then try to take it apart and figure out how it works.”