Invited to perform at Le Guess Who? 2025 by guest curator Asher Gamedze, DEAD SYMBOLS are a critical sound collective committed to dangerous thinking and sonic vandalism. They situate their practice at the intersection of sound and theory: it is an inquiry, or study, into the sonic properties of theory, or sound as a theoretical intervention. Now they release their fourth full-length project Ubuhle bub' hlungu.
The 12-track album solidifies this Cape Town based trio as one of the most forward-looking ensembles working in our crisis laden contemporary times. This work, like all of their projects to date, is grounded in a radical blending of a collective ethic of improvisation and the technical precision of electronic music.
With Ubuhle bub’ hlungu, DEAD SYMBOLS takes us through a myriad of sites and references; from Khayelitsha to Khartoum, from John Coltrane (1926-1967) to Brenda Fassie (1964-2004), Amiri Baraka (1934-2014) to Yvonne Vera (1964-2005), from the Bulhoek massacre (1921) to the Marikana massacre (2012). It is an intergenerational and intramural dialogue that cuts across space and time to consider the contributions of a wide range of indispensable figures. The critique is as unflinching as the sound’s uncompromising and haunting sharpness.
DEAD SYMBOLS perform at Le Guess Who? 2025 on Friday 7 & Saturday 8 November. Also performing are a.o. Amirtha Kidambi's Elder Ones,Voice Actor, Tumi Mogorosi, Asher Gamedze with A Semblance, Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends and many more.
