Air Senegal

The Israeli-born Aylon won a Best Artist nomination in the Songlines World Music Awards for his 2021 album Xalam. That recording was a labour of love, the culmination of a decade studying the xalam and kamalengoni while recording in Senegal. This follow-up takes his musical adventures to the next level, with his own rhythmic and increasingly assured playing augmented by some of West Africa’s finest voices. Cheikh Lô takes the lead on the slinky, orchestrated mbalax of ‘Terranga’, and Dobet Gnahoré’s husky tones grace ‘Nan You’, which mixes African and electronic influences to fine effect. Elsewhere, the soulful former Super Diamono singer Omar Pene and the Ethiopian-Israeli chanteuse AvevA duet hauntingly on the slow-burning Afro-pop of ‘Joxna’, while Baye Dame Bou Yaye, a follower of the Tijaniyya Sufi order, lends his gritty praise voice to ‘Sama Dom’. As with Xalam, what’s impressive is how Aylon has absorbed different West African styles and made them sound fresh without compromising the integrity of his collaborators.