Early in 2004, Freshlyground participated in the opening of Parliament of South Africa by performing before President Thabo Mbeki in an event organised as a celebration of ten years of democracy in South Africa.

At the Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), Freshlyground performed with Zimbabwean musician Oliver Mtukudzi.

The band went on to perform alongside local legend Miriam Makeba, as well as Stanley Clarke and Femi Kuti at the North Sea Jazz Festival, held during April in Cape Town. July also marked a break from the recording studio for the band, who had been working hard on their then unreleased album Nomvula. The band took this time to perform at the Villa Celimontana Festival in Rome, Italy.

Finally, in late 2004, Freshlyground released their very successful album, Nomvula. Although the uptake of the album was initially slow, it eventually went on to achieve double platinum status locally. Initial success was largely due to the catchy, feel-good, lyrics of Doo Be Doo, which enjoyed significant play on local radio, it also covered in Indonesian by singer Gita Gutawa. Follow-up hits included I'd like and the signature track Nomvula, the former achieving unprecedented success on radio charts such as the 5FM Top 40, where it remained at No. 1 for several weeks.

Nomvula

freshlyground