Released:
2002, EMI

Website:
Henry Ate

A timely career retrospective from Karma-Ann Swanepoel, who has relocated to London to open a studio with Neal Snyman. 'The Singles' features a selection of the best tracks from her (various bands') three 'angst-pop' albums. There is also an extra bonus of four new tracks, including her catchy new single 'Finally' (which is also the final track on this collection...mmm!). Henry Ate's 1996 debut album, 'Slap In The Face', was a slow but sure grower, helped by a strong and devoted following. That album's four strongest tracks - 'Jesus Made Me', 'Henry', 'Just', and 'Hey Mister' - open this album on a sparkling note. 'Dr Pepper', 'Tuesday Afternoon', and 'One Day Soon' here represent Karma's under-rated second album 'One Day Soon', which suffered commercially from the band's ill-advised name-change to Karma.

They were back as Henry Ate for the surprisingly uplifting 'Torn And Tattered' album from 2000. 'Mad Hatter' was a popular radio hit off the album, and 'She's Alright', 'Prayer', and 'Saints And Sinners' indicated that Karma-Ann's delicate musical psyche was settled, balanced, and working fine. The final four tracks here - 'Outside', 'Life', 'Hey Boy' (not a Via Afrika cover), and 'Finally' - were recorded specially for this collection, and were produced with Neal Snyman. 'Finally' is followed by an extra-bonus, hidden slower piano version of, um, 'Finally'. Point made!

Karma always surrounded herself with top musicians, like long-time ally guitarist Julian Sun, bassist Brendan Ou Tim, drummers Barry van Zyl and Peter Cohen, and experienced names like Willem Moller, Peter Pearlson and Neal Snyman to produce and engineer most of her recorded work to date. The result is a collection that illustrates a creative and mature musical progression over six years, achieved without moving too far away from the bright, sweet-voiced pop that attracted us all in the first place. And despite her mostly serious public persona, when you lift this CD out of the box, underneath there's a lovely photo of Karma with a huge smile on her face. All things considered, it's been a good six years! What's next? (SS)