The Darkness Between the Leaves

From the rain-soaked Scottish glens to the hot and dusty deserts of Mali, the Alba Griot Ensemble have discovered an unlikely musical empathy that defies geographical differences. Recorded in Scotland, Bamako and Paris, the AGE project began in 2014 when Mark Mulholland, the Scottish guitarist behind the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra, moved to Mali and hooked up with ngoni (lute) player Yacouba Sissoko. Fellow Scottish guitarist Craig Ward and Belgian double bassist Hannes d'Hoine were added to form the core ensemble and the result is an all-acoustic album of textured stringed-instrument magic, poetic songwriting and murmuring harmony vocals that sounds like psych-folk pioneers the Incredible String Band crossed with Crosby, Stills & Nash. Guests include Tony Allen on shuffling drums, Toumani Diabaté on kora and Lassana Diabaté on balafon.

Mulholland wrote seven of the eight songs, which all operate in broadly the same gossamer mood of intricate, intermingling strings and gentle, pulse-like rhythms that ebb and flow. There's a slight change of pace on Yacouba's composition ‘Horonia’, sung and delivered in classical Mande style, and yet it still fits seamlessly with Mulholland's compositions. The overall effect is soothing, meditative and exquisitely beautiful.