Karen Zoid’s versatility precedes her. On OP DIE OOMBLIK (DEEL 2), she sensitively navigates a range of themes on the space of seven tracks: mortality, the refraction of light in nature, a third-person perspective of a noteworthy sociopolitical figure. “Op Die Oomblik means ‘In the Moment’. But in Afrikaans it has a double meaning. It also means ‘On the Moment’ or literally ‘At the Time’,” Karen explains to Apple Music. For OP DIE OOMBLIK (DEEL 2), she and her band locked themselves into a studio and created a product on that moment, at that time. Zoid avidly talks through this process and the meanings behind her springtime-inspired release. “TYD VAN JOU LEWE” “So “Ware liefde is ware hell” translates to “True love is true hell” because you feel so much pain when someone leaves, but if you wish them well when they go then you can both start afresh.” “DONKER NAG” “The first verse is the beginning of a love song, and a friend of mine passed away while I was writing it, and so the second verse is about him. I wouldn’t say that the song is sad though, it’s in 6/8 so it’s got that melancholic feel because it sways and rocks you like a baby. I tried to capture the melancholy of life but ultimately, it’s about making peace with your own mortality, as well as the unknown.” “SWARTSKAAP” “This is a lekker, fast-paced one. It’s one part self-affirmation, one part feminist manifesto and one part Karen Zoid band anthem.” “LIG BUIG” “This is about the refraction of light—how it bends through your eye and through nature, and in turn how nature shows us to be gentle and fluid. It’s a soothing song about staying calm and taking things in your stride.” “KYK MOOI NA JOUSELF” “This one’s all about self-care and describes a pleasant day that I spent at home reflecting on life, and wandering down the promenade in Green Point on one of those perfect Cape Town summer days. It also feeds into an overarching theme of springtime that underpins the album because it’s being released during the first week of my favourite season.” “TWEEDE ASEM” “This was the theme song of a documentary that was featured on KykNet called Madiba: ‘n Uitsonderlike Roeping, which is the journey of Nelson Mandela’s former aide, Zelda Le Grange, back to his childhood home of Qunu in Mvezo. I wrote it as if I was Zelda, in the first person, being on a journey and looking under every rock to try and find pieces of him—her mentor, her boss and the greatest South African that ever lived.” “SONBRILLETJIES” “This is an old Afrikaans song that was recorded by a comedian by the name of Al Debbo in 1968 and it was originally a bit of a joke song, so we’ve turned the arrangement on its head and now it’s an homage to Lou Reed and Cowboy Junkies. We rounded off the album with this song because, again, we’re going into spring so it’s a very natural conclusion.”