Acoustics is a follow-up to his successful and Botswana Musicians Union (BOMU) award-winning debut album, Maloba. As always Berman's set was simple and pared down, relying only on the use of his guitar, his harmonica and his voice. In the weekend show, which attracted a good crowd, he relied on the trusted popularity of songs from his old albums and took the opportunity to sample some of the new tracks.
Berman's skills in playing his instruments of choice cannot be denied, but it is really in his way with words that the brilliance of his music comes to the fore. As an artist who professes a love of the Setswana culture and language, and as a singer fashioning himself around greats like Ratsie Sethako and George Swabi, his music is nostalgic and reflects a real yearning for a distant past. His lyrics centre around everything from a longing for the way people used to dress, to working in the lands, to the use of Setswana proverbs, to the self-praising militancy of traditional oral poets.
