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Album review


Oumou Sangaré

Seya


Paris 

26/02/2009 - 

It has been years since Mali’s iconic diva, Oumou Sangaré, has set foot in the studio to record new material. So the release of Seya, on Nick Gold’s World Circuit label, can justifiably be hailed as a major event.

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The latest offering from Oumou Sangaré, the singer with the radiant personality and the mega-watt smile, is an energising, uplifting and, at times, funky affair simply entitled Seya (Joy). Seya has come out of the studio so perfectly formed that the songs on this new album are enough to drive any critic to superlative overload. How else to describe Oumou’s commanding and technically irreproachable vocals sweeping listeners up like a driving wind and setting them down somewhere far, far away?

Seya is outstanding, too, in the texture of its tracks, which boast amazingly inventive string arrangements by Massamba Wele Diallo and slick and audacious production from Cheick Tidiane Seck. Joined in the studio by a host of talented musicians - not to mention an impressive line-up of guest stars including the Ivoirian flute virtuoso Magic Malik - Oumou could not fail to impress.

Songs on Oumou’s new album celebrate joy (Seya) and love (Senkele te Sira) but also praise the virtues of altruism and humility (Kounadya). Mali’s beloved daughter also pays tribute to the traditional hunters of the Wassulu region (Donso) and pays her respects to the legendary sixties’ ‘griotte’ Djekani Djeli (Lyo Djeli). Renowned as an outspoken campaigner on women’s rights, Oumou continues her personal battles on her new album, railing against polygamy (Sounsoumba) and the practice of young girls being forced into arranged marriages (Were Were Wintou).

Seya, recorded between Bamako, London and Paris, is an exceptional album marking the twentieth year of Oumou Sangaré’s exceptional career. Part of the Malian songbird’s ongoing legacy, Seya has already earned its place as one of the best albums to come out of West Africa this decade.

 Read the interview


 Listen to an extract from Seya
Oumou Sangaré Seya (World Circuit) 2009
Upcoming tour dates include: L’Alhambra (Paris) 1 April; The Basilica (Saint-Denis) 2 April; Barbican Centre (London)

Patrick  Labesse

Translation : Julie  Street