Rowlene is dropping her latest album Some Strings Attached today. It’s a short collection of smooth, traditional R&B ballads where the singer-songwriter pours her heart out about the relationships in her life and what they’ve taught her. Not just the relationships with lovers but with friends, family and fans too.

Born Rowlene Nicole Bosman in Cape Town, the 29-year-old balladeer first gained national attention when she collaborated with rapper Nasty C on the 2018 hit SMA, which has since collected more than 20 million streams on Spotify. The two went on to collaborate on several more songs, including I Need You, featured on the soundtrack of the Netflix series Blood & Water. Rowlene was one of the first artists signed to Nasty C’s label Tall Racks Records, though she spent only two years there before returning to independence.

“It’s hard to explain a vision to people who have an entirely different one for you,” she says about leaving the label deal. There’s a hierarchy at a certain point and I was also still figuring out whether music was even something I wanted to pursue. It’s demanding and unforgiving but also so humbling and rewarding.

“Being signed when you’re not yet sure of yourself is tough. I’d advise any artist to develop themselves for a year or two before signing anything because the expectations become overwhelming. You have to live up to a reality that doesn’t even exist in your mind. I’m still very whimsical but I lost a lot of that during that time and I needed to find it again. With this album, it finally sounds like Rowlene. Not just R&B or pop or alternative. Me. It has my stamp on it.”

Rowlene’s debut album, 11:11, arrived in 2020 and was received positively, earning her a South African Music Award nomination for Best Pop Album. Since then she’s kept releasing singles and EPs but Some Strings Attached is her first studio album in six years.

We got onto the subject of old-school R&B early in our conversation. I mentioned that some friends and I had spent the weekend before listening to Joe Thomas and The Isley Brothers and that her album felt like a natural continuation of that.

“Yes, The Isley Brothers,” she says, laughing. “I was trying to educate my friend on The Isley Brothers because he didn’t know who Alex Isley was. I went down a whole rabbit hole with him. I was just like: ‘How do you not know who The Isley Brothers are?’ And I was just like: ‘Okay, you’re white. So it shouldn’t surprise me.’”

The title Some Strings Attached came from what started as an acoustic project and was conceived as a nod to how each string on the guitar contributes significantly to the sound. 

“But as I kept making the music, it branched into an entire album that sonically transformed itself,” she says. “It’s about the extensions of relationships we face as individuals. I don’t know if you believe in the invisible string theory or soul ties. There’s always been someone who significantly changed my life or significantly ruined me but each part played a part in the character I’m playing today.”

She’s learnt a lot, she says, from cutting people off but it wasn’t something that came naturally to her.

“Someone said that with time and age, you tend to care less. And I always said that’s impossible. But at some point you need to know when things don’t serve you anymore and they’re just weighing you down. Some of the songs are about the weight of letting go while also holding on to the string. There might be a connection that’s taking me up versus one that’s dragging me down. Even if the intentions are pure, I don’t think everybody knows what their subconscious truly holds.”

Her songwriting process doesn’t follow a neat formula, she explains. “It depends on the day. Sometimes we’re chilling in the studio and because of the melodies, I feel like the song is already a story of some kind. I’m just here to collaborate. You can’t really make music without musicians, so I’m very respectful when it comes to giving people credit.

“I’ve also had people write songs for me, been in rooms where I’ve never heard anything and then it’s just, come record it. We’re all just vessels of the ****, so you have to thug it out. When you get an idea sent to you, you have to handle it or it gets sent to Prince. Or to Tyla. I think Tyla is my opp. So I need some healthy competition.”

The album, she says, came together in two days. Though that’s not the whole story. “I had so much that I didn’t say for a year, because I was going through so much. I didn’t want to give away the power of the sentimentality of my feelings. I didn’t want to sing about an ex who cheated on me while I was still trying to heal from it. Now it’s in the past and we can laugh about it. I can’t believe I was with him for so long. It was really just a position of: ‘I know what I’m doing and I know that I’m good at it.’”

Success, for Rowlene, is measured in specifics. “At least one number one on radio. At least five sync placements. I’d like to say I made enough off my royalties that I can pay rent and possibly go on a holiday. I think that’s achievable. I’m a very pragmatic person, so it’s whimsy meets pragmatism. But the numbers, unfortunately, are all that matter to people these days and to me they don’t. I just want to make an impact, whether that’s a warm hug to someone, helping them through a breakup or making them cry and then want to hug themselves. I don’t care if it’s just 10 people who listen to it. It’s definitely not 10; the project’s already well over 400 000 streams and it hasn’t even dropped yet.”

Some of the streams, she points out, are owed to relationships that have outlasted the industry’s usual churn. Warwick, who now handles her PR, was the first person she worked with more than a decade ago and the first to write her a song. “That’s what Some Strings Attached means. Everything is connected. It’s just how you take care of those connections at the end of the day.”

Rowlene doesn’t like the word “fans”. Her day-one supporters, the ones who show up to every gig and stream every song, are her friends, she says.

But she’s also learnt the need to balance that closeness with caution. During her first trip to Los Angeles, people kept telling her she looked like Selena, the late Mexican-American singer. It’s a strange compliment: a nod to a pioneer who broke barriers for Latin music and for women in the industry, shadowed by the fact that Selena was murdered at 23 by someone close to her, the president of her fan club.

“It was weird,” she says. “People started comparing me to her a lot in America, saying I looked like her and I was like: ‘Who’s Selena?’ I found out who she was about four years ago. So I’m a little more careful about getting close to strangers now. My parents always told me that.

“But I’m very naive in a whimsical way. There’s a lot of whimsy in me and if I removed that, it would completely change who I am and how I perceive people. Even my closest friend says I have so much faith in humanity. But if we all gave up, what’s the point? We should keep having faith in people, while keeping ourselves safe.”

That faith, along with real talent and hard work, has taken her further than Cape Town. She’s performed in Los Angeles, London, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and across most of the continent. In November she heads to Berlin for the start of what she almost calls a “little” tour before catching herself.

“I need to stop saying little in front of my staff because it’s actually quite huge that I’m doing this independently. I’m paying for my own subscriptions, lol. It’s kind of cool but it’s also daunting. It’s scary but I like that it keeps me alive a little. I don’t know what tomorrow holds but I know I’m going to be great.”

Visa admin is next on the list. An appointment she has next week, dates outside Europe still to be confirmed and a stint in London early next year to write with friends.

“I really want this album to sink into people’s veins. It’s one of the best things I’ve put together as an artist. It’s hard to get to a position where you’re comfortable enough to just say: ‘Okay, I’m happy with this.’”

Rowlene launches Some Strings Attached at Artistry in Johannesburg on Saturday, August 22.