Musow Dance

When Les Amazones d’Afrique gave their debut British concert at WOMAD, back in 2016, they sounded gloriously original. Here were a group of great African female singers of different ages, from different countries and musical backgrounds, who clearly loved working together, mixing traditional influences with reggae, blues, rap and glorious harmonies, while cheerfully fighting for women’s rights and empowerment. Their three subsequent albums have presented a very different, increasingly contemporary pop image, as they collaborated first with electronica exponent Liam Farrell and now with celebrity producer Jacknife Lee, who has worked with everyone from U2 to The Killers and Taylor Swift, and matches the six female vocalists against a slick, rousing barrage of electro-percussion, bass lines and keys. Their ranks no longer include Oumou Sangaré, Angélique Kidjo or Mariam Doumbia so the ‘supergroup’ tag could be questioned, but there are some fine voices here, including those of founder member Mamani Keïta from Mali, Ivory Coast star Dobet Gnahoré, Nneka from Nigeria and Alvie Bitemo from the Congo. They are at their best on the exuberant opening title-track or on Bitemo’s defiant ‘Amahoro’, with its message ‘stand tall, be strong.’ But it would be great if they had escaped from the incessant backing to include acoustic tracks and a reminder of their exquisite a capella harmonies.