On a crisp Thursday morning hours before Desire Marea’s performance at the Transform Festival in Leeds, England, earlier this month, the South African songwriter sat in Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve, communing with his Zulu ancestors. It’s a practice he honed through his training as a sangoma, a traditional spiritual healer, and it is essential to his craft.
“There’s no music if my ancestors aren’t invited and honored,” Marea, 32, said in a video interview from his hotel room later that morning. Quick with a smile and clad in a…
