Synth touches come into play here and throughout the album they are careful, adding a touch of Afrofuturism but ultimately not expanding the music too far beyond Diawara’s well-developed talent and those of her supporting band members. Diawara longs, yearning against a backdrop of cool, desert-kissed guitar notes and handclaps. Opening track “Nterini”, tells the poignant story of lovers forced to live far apart. Her voice is at the forefront of it all, lyrical and engaging, more brilliantly subtle in its emotion than perhaps it ever has been before. It makes for as accurate a title as she could pick Diawara holds nothing back as she sings about love, family, tradition, and identity over smooth melodies rich with a variety of strings - kora, ngoni, electric guitar, cello - and crisp, clear beats. Ridiculously easy on the ear, Bonya (Respect) spikes 60s US R&B with kora runs courtesy of both Toumani and Sidiki Diabaté, while Dibi Bo comes to Anglophone ears as finger-clicking doo-wop that also invites you to sing along exercise caution, however, on Negue Negue….Kitty Empire….~įatoumata Diawara translates the title of her new album Fenfo as “something to say”. Nonetheless, the depths of the tracklisting are a surprise. Fenfo’s most seductive marriages of ancient and modern have already come out: Nterini, the lead track, and the mesmeric Kokoro. Don Do, the album closer, finds Diawara aching about unrequited love to a sparse accompaniment: her electric guitar and Vincent Ségal’s cello. In the wake of the discovery last year of slave markets in Libya, she recorded a powerful anti-racism track, Djonya.įenfo (“Something to Say” in Bambara) finds Diawara engaged on an outreach programme, making contemporary roots music about themes that range from the specifically African – Kanou Dan Yen lambasts the tradition that stops different ethnic groups intermarrying – to the universal. The singer released her debut album, Fatou, in 2011 an intervening aeon has seen the Mali-born, Paris-based artist act in films and collaborate extensively Ultimatum, her Disclosure feature, was released earlier this month. Pierced of lip, electric guitarist Fatoumata Diawara has verve to spare, and a dynamic voice whose partial cloudiness is fundamental to its appeal. I suspect that Diawara will produce more adventurous work in the future, but this is an entertaining and welcome return….by…Robin Denselow….~ And the lyrics – mostly in Bambara, with the occasional burst of English – tackle everything from migration to African identity and demands to end the ban on marriages between different ethnic groups. It may be aimed at the international crossover market, but even at its most commercial this is an album that succeeds. Her voice is more soulful and expressive than on her debut, and the songs range from cool, melodic Afro-pop to the gently bluesy Mama, the stomping funk of Negue Negue, and the charming acoustic guitar and cello duet that ends the set. On her first album, the musicians included, and here the cast includes his kora-playing son Sidiki, along with the French star Matthieu Chedid and that remarkable cellist Vincent Ségal. The album sees her in powerful voice covering a variety of styles, surrounded by a distinguished band. Fenfo – which translates as “something to say” – is a classy affair that demonstrates her impressive musical range while leaving open the question of whether she has yet to substantiate her own distinctive musical identity. And now, at last, comes her second solo album. She has since been involved in a variety of projects, including collaborations with Cuban pianist Roberto Fonseca, and with fellow Malians and. Fatoumata Diawara established her reputation as one of the finest, most inventive female singers in Mali on the strength of her remarkable debut album,, recorded seven years ago.
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