Reviews

Finishing

N’Faly Kouyaté

Best known for his vocal, kora and balafon work with the glorious Afro Celt Sound System, N’Faly Kouyaté now shows...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

L’amour à la folie

Amadou & Mariam

You don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone. Perhaps in recent years, we grew guilty of rather taking for...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

Batakari

Ata Kak

Ata Kak (AKA Yaw Atta-Owusu) is back… again! Ten years on from the now seminal reissue of his 1994 debut,...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

Mifankatiava

Loko Gasy

Two years ago, four young musicians from Madagascar founded the group Loko Gasy, which has now culminated in their debut...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

Mon Balo

Luc Moindranzé Karioudja

Réunion singer, percussionist and composer Luc Moindranzé Karioudja releases his debut album, Mon Balo, in homage to his island’s traditional...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

A Piece of Infinity

Meklit

Meklit is an Ethiopian-American vocalist, songwriter, composer and activist based in San Francisco. Her latest release finds her explicitly exploring...

Reviewed in issue December/2025

Guitari Baro

Guitari Baro

It’s always good to welcome a new label specialising in the kind of music Songlines covers and Chrysalis Global gets...

Reviewed in issue October/2025

Zulu Guitar Blues: Cowboys, Troubadours and Jilted Lovers 1950–1965

VARIOUS ARTISTS | Various Artists

This is a truly extraordinary album, a captivating chronicle of the glorious, rousing and defiant music that was created during...

Reviewed in issue October/2025

Buya Buya: Come Back

Mahotella Queens

One of the glories of apartheid-era township jive, the Mahotella Queens celebrate their 60th anniversary with their first album of...

Reviewed in issue October/2025

Made Through Ritual

Plunky & Oneness of Juju

Founded by the American saxophonist James ‘Plunky’ Branch in the 1970s, Oneness of Juju would forge a soulful style of...

Reviewed in issue October/2025