 A native of Cape Town, Tranmer said thoughts of identity influenced the creation of the album.He used marabi chords because "they are very simple, age-old blocks...a basic format for so much music that has come out of this country...in a way that, say, twelve-bar blues has become a format for so much music that comes out of America...the 12/8 groove—how slow it was—reminded me of a train.I thought of a train going back in time, to that place that marks how ancient is the African human heritage