FLOW RELEASES FIRST SINGLE ‘MHONDORO’
New single ‘Mhondoro’ by Shingai was released by In Place of War’s global project EarthSonic in Aprilin celebration of Earth Month, ahead of the release of the Flow album, which tells the diverse stories of water and women worldwide.
The album will feature new tracks from artists from different parts of the world, including Nadine Shah (UK), Sohini Alam (British-Bangladeshi), Jaloo, Bebé Salvego and Keila (Brazil), Madame Gandhi (USA) and other artists from Iceland and Finland.
“‘Mhondoro’ is a warning to any more attempts to pollute our sacred waters - nationally and internationally.”, says Shingai.
The single, inspired by the Zimbabwean song “Dzinomwa Muna Save”, will be accompanied by a remix EP, set to be released in June, featuring four remixes created by the Somali DJ, producer, and filmmaker Hibotep,MayOnMars, Zimbabwean singer-songwriter and producer, R3igndrops, Ugandan DJ known for her sets that channel the darker edges of afro house, afro tech, 3-step, and gqom, Tapiwa, Afro-electronic music producer, DJ, and multi-instrumentalist from Harare, Zimbabwe, and a collaboration between the multidisciplinary artist and cultural curator Shumba Maasai with British electronic music duo Coldcut and composer and music producer Aron Kyne.
“'Dzinomwa Muna Save' loosely translates as 'We drink from the Save River - Our ancestors the Lions (Shumba-My mothers Totem) drink from the Save River. So we are the children of the Save River, from whom our ancestors (the Lions) drink.”, Shingai adds.
The project began in 2025, when the artists came together to present Flow in five live performances at the United Nations Climate Conference COP30 in the Brazilian Amazon. This included performances in the Blue Zone, where policy discussions take place among international official delegations, alongside free concerts in Belém’s cultural spaces.
The venues saw queues around the block to see the “Spice Girls of COP” - a nickname given by enthusiastic audiences. The multicultural female collective made their presence felt not only by including art and music into institutional spaces, but also through bringing the voices of women, women of colour, transgender women and Amazonian artists to the heart of the global climate debate. “Music is a timeless technology that helps us translate complex scientific data into emotions capable of inspiring people to take action.”, said Ruth, founder and Creative Director of In Place of War.
Now, the artists are preparing an even bigger performance to present at the opening of COP31, taking place in Turkey in November this year.
“My expectation is that this performance will not be merely symbolic. That the leaders present understand that culture is not an accessory to a diplomatic event. Art has the power to denounce, to mobilize, and to imagine futures. Protecting the waters requires real commitment, structural change, and listening to the territories. We are there to remind them that the climate crisis has a face, a body, and a history,” the Brazilian artist Bebé Salvego said.
And this is just the beginning; the Flow Album, produced by award-winning Jennifer Decilveo and Brazilian / Venezuelan Alejandra Luciani and set for release in November this year, will soundtrack of the Flow film: an artistic-documentarysharing stories of frontline women affected by water-related crises across six different countries: Brazil, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Tuvalu, Iceland and the UK.
The film, which aims to share the teachings of wisdom-keepers bringing new-ancient knowledge to the climate debate and planetary health and offering pathways of healing and resistance, is set to premiere in 2027 and tour around the world.
Flow is part of EarthSonic and In Place of War, a global project that amplifies creativity in places impacted by conflict & climate change as a tool for positive change.
Find out more about Flow here.
