Riaan Smit’s Electric Nomad a love letter to the long album

Award-winning Namibian musician and songwriter Riaan Smit has officially released his fourth studio album, Electric Nomad, an ambitious 14-track body of work that has already drawn strong praise for its depth, originality and musical scope.

In a time when short tracks and singles dominate the landscape, Electric Nomad consciously chooses a different path.

According to Smit, the album represents a return to storytelling and musical narratives, a format he believes has been lost in the modern streaming era. He describes the project as a work that should be experienced in its entirety, rather than in fragmented pieces.

The album unfolds as a continuous thematic arc, weaving together diverse influences such as surf rock, blues, funk and African-inspired rhythms.

Despite its genre diversity, Electric Nomad maintains a cohesive emotional and sonic identity that carries the listener from beginning to end.

The heart of the story

One of the album’s most personal elements lies in its origin: parts of the music were created using the heartbeat of Smit’s daughter, transformed into rhythmic and textural layers. This intimate detail gives the album a deeply human dimension, setting it apart from more conventional studio productions.

The release further reinforces Smit’s reputation as one of Namibia’s most prolific and respected songwriters. In addition to his solo career, he is also the lead singer and frontman of Crimson House, widely regarded as one of Southern Africa’s leading live performance acts. Crimson House has released four studio albums, bringing Smit’s total output to eight full-length albums.

With approximately 140 officially released songs to his name, Smit ranks among the most prolific Namibian songwriters of his generation, with work that resonates both locally and internationally.

Electric Nomad is now available on all major streaming platforms, as a download on Apple Music, and as a full album on YouTube – an invitation to listeners to experience the work as it was intended: uninterrupted, immersive and complete. As Namibia continues to carve out its place on the global cultural map, Electric Nomad stands as proof of the country’s musical depth and why Riaan Smit is a name Namibia can be proud of.