Way back in April Cheri MacNeil, aka Dear Reader, made a bold and creative move by releasing her fourth LP Rivonia. The album wasn’t just another notch on the bedpost so to speak, but a concept album detailing tales and histories of the place of her birth – South Africa. The collection of tracks, named after the place where a group of apartheid struggle icons were arrested, proved that MacNeil has the writing prowess to tell a great story through the guise of witty pop songs. The imagery created throughout Rivonia is rich, vivid and striking, whilst often circling around the atrocity-riddled history of South Africa’s apartheid regime. Therefore, when Potsdam-based radio station Radio Eins offered Dear Reader the opportunity to work the songs of Rivonia into a new, grand and cinematic form – via a companionship with the Film Orchestra of Babelsburg – it felt only natural. The tracks themselves are stories told through music, so who better to enrich them even more cinematically than a symphonic orchestra who specialises in recording film scores?

The finished result is We Followed Every Sound. The live-recorded album sees Rivonia taken to new heights under the watchful eye of conductor Bernd Wefelmayer and his orchestra. The already graceful and thought-provoking songs culminate to a warmer and more intense sound. Offerings from Rivonia are also accompanied by stand-out tracks from the outfit’s previous albums, including Great White Bear, Dearheart and Idealistic Animals.

“Back From The Dead” sure is a solemn number to kick off on, but one which has an underpinning message of hope. The track at first listen is one of despair, as it seems to characterise the thoughts of an enemy of the Apartheid regime who suffers in jail, however, its underpinning message is that of hope. MacNeil relocated to Germany to write and record Rivonia and the lyrics found in the song’s bridge: “I never thought that I’d be someone who prefers the clouds to the warmth of the sun / The chill of the autumn, the silence indoors / whose eyes are barred windows, and smiles are rare birds” seems to echo parallels for both MacNeil and her character. All the while the thickness of the orchestra exaggerates the emotions and textures found in the original.

“Down Under Mining” focuses its attention on the formation of Johannesburg and the duped rural miners who were “fetching the white man his gold”. It is possibly one of the most haunting tracks from the record, exhibiting the treacherous lengths humans have been known to reach to. As expected, Nelson Mandela features in some of the tracks. “Man Of The Book” focuses on the icon himself and features surging string and wind sections which make it the grandest on the record. Coming to the end of the LP “Took Them Away” offers a visceral and stirring account of the arrest of 19 members of the African National Congress in Rivonia in April 1963, a year in Africa juxtaposing the civil rights successes on the North American continent.

The album builds on its already grounded foundations. Rivonia is a record that can at times sound joyous and uplifting but constantly carries a message of injustice. The orchestral distillation of this record arguably makes it an even grander, more emotive and stunning album than its predecessor.