Sterling EQ launches new album with Afrikaans tracks

"Since the first album was focused on virtuosity, we have decided to place more emphasis on the magnificence of the melody with the second," said Carina Bruwer, flautist and manager of Sterling EQ. "Strangely enough, no matter how hard we tried to find suitable international tracks for this project, we found our attention repeatedly reverted to Afrikaans classics of the 1980s and 90s. The beauty of these songs overshadowed any of the international songs we considered; hence we decided to place our undivided attention solely on Afrikaans music - an opportunity to pay tribute to the Afrikaans language, the culture and, most importantly, our Afrikaans fans. Simultaneously, it also enables us to share this music with our non-Afrikaans-speaking audience.

Overwhelmed by suggestions

"We value the input of our fans and chose to communicate our ideas to them by means of our Facebook fan page. We asked our fans which Afrikaans songs they'd like to hear the 'Sterling-version' of. We were overwhelmed by their endless suggestions and could only select 14 from over 50 suggested songs." Bruwer added that this has been the quartet's most daunting task to date. "Naturally, we want to produce an album that's both electrifying and out of the ordinary, without diverting away from the music's original appeal."

The 14-track album includes Voshaarnooi (Louis van Rensburg), Mannetjies Roux (Laurika Rauch), Ramaja ( Four Jacks and a Jill), Ek Wil Jou Ken (Anneli van Rooyen), Ska Rumba (Juanita du Plessis), Jy is Vrou (Danie Niehaus), a medley of theme songs (including Agter Elke Man, Vyfster and Sonkring) as well as other legendary Afrikaans hits.