Borderlines & Bloodlines

One of the standout folk albums of 2023 in the UK, which almost flew under the radar, Birmingham-based Germa Adan’s Borderlines & Bloodlines is utterly beguiling. Bringing together her Haitian heritage (Adan was born in Haiti, grew up in Florida and lives in the UK) with West African instrumentation and musical concepts and a strong sense of British and American folk roots, it sounds unlike anything else out there. Anchored by Adan’s intricate nylon guitar finger-picking, the real head turner is when her guitar blends with Senegalese kora playing from Kadialy Kouyate, or when her own fiddling sounds for all the world like West African fiddle. The global threads are strong on this album, and Adan’s vision is inclusive for all, touching even on jazz with the inclusion of British trumpet player Xhosa Cole on the title-track. Adan sings mostly in Haitian Creole with some English, and writes songs in both languages. She covers Haitian songwriter Manno Charlemagne, and puts the poetry of Haitian poets Emmanuel W Védrine and Pierre-Richard Narcisse and American poet Audre Lorde to song. This is one of the most intriguing and self-assured albums of any year.