NEIL SANDILANDS “CAUTIOUSLY EXCITED” ABOUT HIS NEW SINGLE INSPIRED BY A POSTCARD THAT HIS GRANDFATHER SENT TO HIS GRANDMOTHER DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.
The first radio single by renowned international actor, singer, and songwriter, Neil Sandilands, has just been released, and offers work of the highest quality. It forces you to be quiet, makes you think and compels you to listen.
Sandilands’ song, HUISTOE, is about a postcard that his grandfather, Joe Sandilands, sent his grandmother, Nettie, during the Second World War. He shares in his own words:
“I am cautiously excited about this single.
The song came knocking at my door in September 2022 while I was in Sydney, Australia. I remembered a postcard we had in our house that Grandpa Joe Sandilands sent to Grandma Nettie during the Second World War.
Of course, our contemporary experience was dismayed by the possibility of a third World War. I refer to the instability that the world has experienced (and is still experiencing) with the situation between Russia, the USA and China over the Ukraine issue.
Grandpa was a tank driver for the South African troops during the battle of Tobruk, Libya, 1942. This postcard, now yellowed with time, was a photo of the pyramids in Egypt. Inserted at the top right-hand corner, is an image of Grandpa Joe in his military beret, and at the top left-hand corner, surely the only photo he had of his beloved Grandma Nettie. Perhaps the operation management made postcards for all of the troops to send their loved ones, as I know of another person with a similar postcard.
Grandpa Joe did not have the same opportunities I had with regard to education and literacy, but he was able to write his name: Josef Willem Sandilands. I have his name. I wondered what he would have liked to write to Grandma Nettie. A poem? A declaration of love? A song? I thought about the longing for an unscathed return home and reunion with the people you love, the environment you love, and the language and culture you know and love. In a way, I could relate.
The second element that was also valuable in the creation of this song, was a personal experience I had far from South Africa, on the island of Kauai in the Pacific Ocean. I was there in 1997. It is literally the other side of the planet. The road ends at Ke’e beach. It is not humanly possible to drive further or be further away from your origin, Randfontein, South Africa. When I got back into the car and drove away, the thought occurred to me that it didn’t matter whether I was driving north, east, west, or south, in a way, I was traveling “home”. Back to origin.
This song began to distinguish itself as a fan favourite during our recent tour, “Woorde en Akkoorde na die Noorde”. I think it is because there is something universally relatable to homecoming, longing and yearning for the past, or simply put, “home”.
The opening line is: ‘By Giza, in Egipte, kyk Josef in die lens… (At Giza, in Egypt, Josef looks through the lens…)’
I am pleased to share, HUISTOE with fans.”
HUISTOE is now available on all digital platforms, along with the first single, Verkenner, which became available a week ago.
Both of these tracks can be downloaded with a link to the full album, which will be available on 1 May 2023. A new single will be released every week thereafter.
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