Mpumi Dhlamini - Nebula Nomad (2024)

Nebula Nomad (2024) is the fourth studio album by South African multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer Mpumi Dhlamini, released on his own MoBlaq Productions label. Its predecessors are Combined Elements (2007, Sony BMG), Note to Self (2018) and Imvuselelo (2022). The title plays on nebulae and nomads, and on clouds and the interstellar, and the project is billed as an intergalactic journey told through music.

Where earlier records leaned toward the instrumental, this one foregrounds voice. Guests include Tshepo Mngoma, Ayo Solanke, Keke Lingo, Mark Fransman and Prince Lengoasa, among others. According to Music In Africa, “re-imagined” versions of earlier material sit alongside new songs. Dhlamini told the Daily News that it was his first album free of label influence and release deadlines, with himself on piano, saxophone, Rhodes and more.

The circumstances of its making are documented by the Sunday Times. After a hard 2024 that brought Bell’s palsy and the death of his father, Dhlamini took time out to heal and then made the album in about a week. The record earned him the 2025 National Arts Council of South Africa award for outstanding musician. Recording Academy member Karendra Devroop submitted it for Grammy consideration in Best Alternative Jazz Album, which is a submission, not a nomination.

The album has since been restaged as Nebula Nomad: A Journey Through the Senses (Untitled Basement, 14 November 2025), an immersive evening of sound, light and scent framed as a healing exploration of emotion and the recovery of feeling.

Tracklist:
01-01 Mpumi Dhlamini - A Dream (Song For Dad) [3:11]
01-02 Mpumi Dhlamini, Tshepo Mngoma, Kagiso Boiki Monampanai - The Water Bearer (The Aquarian) [feat. Tshepo Mngoma & Kagiso Boiki Monampanai] [8:26]
01-03 Mpumi Dhlamini, Freeman Gumede - Imvuselelo (Re-imagined) [feat. Freeman Gumede] [8:36]
01-04 Mpumi Dhlamini, Prince Lengoasa - Forever Always (Re-imagined) [feat. Prince Lengoasa] [10:17]
01-05 Mpumi Dhlamini, Sibusiso Nkosi, Ayo Solanke - Culmination (feat. Ayo Solanke & Sibusiso Nkosi) [5:56]
01-06 Mpumi Dhlamini, Mzizi, Tendai Shoxx Shoko - The Higher Being (Re-imagined) [feat. Mzizi & Tendai Shoxx Shoko] [8:36]
01-07 Mpumi Dhlamini, Ofentse Sebula - A Night On The Moon (Re-imagined) [feat. Ofentse Sebula] [6:14]
01-08 Mpumi Dhlamini, Judah Ngwenya - The Dwarf Planet Tribesman (feat. Judah Ngwenya) [2:38]
01-09 Mpumi Dhlamini, Zoe the Seed - Sibusise Nkosi (Re-imagined) [feat. Zoe The Seed] [6:06]
01-10 Mpumi Dhlamini - Spirits In Dance [8:01]
01-11 Mpumi Dhlamini, Keke Lingo - To Be One With Self (feat. Keke Lingo) [8:25]
01-12 Mpumi Dhlamini, Mark Fransman, Tshepo Mngoma - A Place, A Time, A People (feat. Tshepo Mngoma & Mark Fransman) [6:16]