Full Moon

Full Moon is a distinctive and exuberant snapshot of an exceptional journey. It offers yet more proof that Moonchild Sanelly is a singular artist whose colourful aesthetic is not only discernible via her trademark blue mop of braids but in the joyous, sexy and defiant nature of her sound.

Produced by Johan Hugo (MIA, Kano, Self Esteem), Full Moon is maximalist, packed with sirens and shrieks and triumphantly rolled “r”s. That is, until the album’s closing tracks: Mntanami poignantly reflects on her father’s upbringing and its impact on her own, while I Was the Biggest Curse treads an increasingly empowered path through frosty beats.

It’s an album full of joy and vibrancy – even when it threatens to become a bit too abrasive, Sanelly’s pure pop sensibility always rears it back. Full Moon is Moonchild Sanelly’s finest album to date, and is about to introduce a brand new superstar to a whole new audience.

Full Moon is an utter joy.

The narrative arc – so expertly disguised when the album started – yields a release with surprising character and soul.

Closing the album out, it becomes clear that Moonchild Sanelly takes a more reflective approach to the project, one that is undoubtedly her strongest to date.

"In My Kitchen" turns on an impressively dexterous, high-speed bar, while "Gwara Gwara" (A Durban dance gone global) is at once euphoric and anxious. [Feb 2025, p.37]

Styles twist and turn, from the unabashed radio pop sound that excites on ‘To Kill A Single Girl (Tequila)’ to surprisingly vulnerable closer ‘I Was The Biggest Curse’ via ‘Sweet & Savage’, which has all the mindbending pace shifts of an early 2000s Xenomania production. Lyrically, meanwhile, she barely misses.