Friday, August 22, 2025
The best new albums from around the world – September 2025, featuring Africa Express and Spafford Campbell
Outstanding new releases from Jeff Bird, Joseph Decosimo and Benedicte Maurseth
Jeff Bird
Ordo Virtutum: Jeff Bird Plays Hildegard Von Bingen, Vol. 2 (Jeff Bird Music)
'This is stirring, inventive and quite beautiful music...'
Joseph Decosimo
Fiery Gizzard (Dear Life Records)
'There's no irony, no gloss – just an intuitive feel for time, tone and tune. Fiery Gizzard may draw from the past, but it never feels trapped there...'
Hawa & Kassé Mady Diabate
Toumaro (One World Records)
'His voice is as glorious as ever, and he is backed by a fine acoustic band, dominated by guitars and balafon...'
Benedicte Maurseth
Mirra (Hubro)
'Established as a guardian of Norwegian music which dates back centuries, here Maurseth deploys her Hardanger fiddle through occasional solos and tapestries woven of repeated folk elements...'
SANAM
Sametou Sawtan (Constellation)
'Sandy Chamoun's fiercely yearning Arabic vocals are centre stage, both thrillingly alive and dreamily ethereal...'
Africa Express
Africa Express presents… Bahidora (World Circuit)
'Every track here seems to inhabit a uniquely enticing world of its own...'
Rebecca Roger Cruz
Rio Abajo (Airfono)
'Now domiciled in Lyon, France, this young Venezuelan singer, percussionist and member of the Réunionese-Venezuelan quartet, Parranda La Cruz, has delivered a first solo album brimming with confidence and panache...'
Gwenifer Raymond
Last Night I Heard The Dog Star Bark (We Are Busy Bodies)
'There can be no denying Gwenifer Raymond's talents, both as a technically excellent player and a very effective composer of intricate and interesting solo instrumental tunes...'
The Good Ones
Rwanda Sings With Strings (Glitterbeat Records)
'Rwanda Sings With Strings was recorded live in a hotel room in a single session, with the two string players jamming along in an earthy back-porch style entirely in keeping with the rustic simplicity of Kazigira's guitar and the harmony vocals of Janvier Havugimana...'
Spafford Campbell
Tomorrow Held (Real World Records)
'A round of applause, then, for England's finest and most innovative instrumental duo...'
