Rowlene is officially entering a new chapter. The South African singer celebrated the release of her new album, ‘Some Strings Attached’, with an intimate showcase at Artistry in Sandton on Thursday night, bringing together fans and collaborators for a performance that moved between familiar favourites and the deeply personal songs that make up her latest project.
Before diving into the new material, Rowlene treated the audience to some of her biggest records, including ‘Sunday Morning’ with Manana and ‘French Tips,’ her collaboration with Ian Lovly, with both performing the tracks live with her. Lovly later took to the stage for a short set of his own before Rowlene returned for the main event: a full live performance of Some Strings Attached, delivered from the opening track through to the album’s final moments.
The project, which blends contemporary R&B, soul and African influences, places Rowlene’s distinctive vocals and vulnerable songwriting firmly at its centre. Across the album, she explores the complicated aftermath of a relationship — not simply the moment it ends, but everything that remains afterwards.
The showcase gave the songs space to tell that story in sequence. Lead singles ‘Last Seen’ and ‘Hurts 2b Reminded’ were among the tracks performed, as Rowlene took the audience through the album’s emotional arc from start to finish.
She, however, saved one of the night’s strongest moments for last. Rowlene closed the showcase with ‘More Room,’ the final track on ‘Some Strings Attached’, joined onstage by Jesse Clegg. The collaboration provided a fitting conclusion to an album built around the idea of release, reflection and eventually making space for what comes next.
@elbroide I’m going to need this to be a single immediately @Rowlene @jesseclegg ♬ original sound – elbroide
The album’s title captures the emotional tension at the heart of the project: the invisible strings that continue to connect us to people, memories and former versions of ourselves, even when a relationship has officially come to an end.
“This album is about accepting that some endings don’t happen cleanly,” Rowlene has said. “There are always memories, habits and emotions that stay attached. I had to stop fighting those strings and understand what they were teaching me. This project is me choosing myself, making room for something new and taking my power back.”
The album was influenced by the end of a long-term relationship and the personal journey that followed — an experience Rowlene says forced her to rebuild and reconnect with herself. “Over the last couple of years, I had to learn to rebuild and find myself,” she said in a promotional video. “Every song kind of traces the processes of that in every different way.”
That sense of progression was particularly apparent in the decision to perform the album in its entirety. Rather than simply offering a collection of songs about heartbreak, Some Strings Attached unfolds as a journey through the messier reality of moving on.
There are memories. Habits. Questions. Emotions that don’t disappear simply because a relationship has – but there is also growth.
Following the performance, Rowlene sat down for a Q&A led by MC and YFM host Karen Mthethwa, giving the audience a closer look at the inspiration behind the album and the experiences that shaped it.
For an artist who has built a career on pairing polished R&B with emotional honesty, Some Strings Attached feels like one of Rowlene’s most personal projects yet, and at Artistry, she gave the album exactly the kind of introduction it deserved: intimate, vulnerable and with nowhere for the emotions to hide.
Sometimes moving on doesn’t mean cutting every string. Sometimes, it means understanding why it was there and deciding which parts of yourself you’re ready to take with you.
Listen to ‘Some Strings Attached’ below and read more music news here.
