Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2026 i Songlines

Across between the Grammys and the A Mercury Prize and then some,” is how BBC Radio 3 presenter Lopa Kothari described the Aga Khan Music Awards before the main event at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall on November 22. Nine artists were awarded from Mali, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine/France, Greece, Bahrain, Senegal and Iran/US. These ranged from long-established groups like Bahrain’s Qalali Folk Band (established over a century ago and preserving the music of the country’s pearl divers) and Moroccan Gnawa gimbri maestro Hamid El Kasri (who gave two dynamic performances) to young Senegalese kora player Senny Camara and Lebanese buzuq player Farah Kaddour. There wasn’t time for soloo sets from all the winners, so they were lumped together in various groups. Unfortunately, nately, the three women – Senny…

Formed in Amsterdam, psych-folk ensemble Nusantara Beat’s music explores the group’s shared Indonesian heritage. “We all have the same roots,” says percussionist Gino Groeneveld, who forms the sextet alongside his brother, drummer Sonny Groeneveld, vocalist Megan de Klerk, guitarist Jordy Sanger, guitarist-keyboardist Rouzy Portier and bassist Michael Joshua. While Joshua was born in West Java, before moving to the Netherlands at 15, the rest of the band members were all born and raised in the low-lying country, either as second- or third-generation Dutch Indonesians. “Me and Sonny were raised with lots of Indonesian music culture,” continues Gino. “Because my mum, who grew up here [in the Netherlands], went through this discovery process in her twenties and found out about this whole other part of her heritage.” Nusantara Beat sprang forth…

Folk Alliance International (FAI) has announced the honourees and nominees for the 2026 International Folk Music Awards (IFMAs), which will open its 38th annual conference, set for January 21–25, 2026 in New Orleans. For the first time, the awards will include a gong for Global Folk Album, created with ourselves here at Songlines. This is in addition to their Album of the Year and Artist of the Year awards – the nominees for the latter being Abbie Gardner, Carsie Blanton, Crys Matthews, I’m With Her, Ordinary Elephant and Sam Robbins. The nominees for Album of the Year and Global Folk Album are: Album of the Year Alison Krauss & Union Station – Arcadia (Down the Road Records) Crys Matthews – Reclamation (Crys Matthews) Flamy Grant – CHURCH (Shamus Records/Palm Valley…

Jimmy Cliff (1944–2025) Reggae luminary and cultural icon Singer, actor and first international reggae star Jimmy Cliff has died aged 81. Many will remember him from The Harder They Come, a 1972 Jamaican film that starred Cliff as an aspiring singer trying to crack the Kingston music scene. Cliff’s performance was electric, but one could argue he wasn’t really acting; like his protagonist, Ivan, Jimmy Cliff grew up in a poor rural community and saw music as his only way out. The film’s title-track is performed by a sweat-drenched, jumper-wearing Cliff in studio. He pumps back and forth at the mic, his eyes rolled up to heaven. We see the realisation dawn on the label managers – played by real-life managers Joe Gibbs and Leslie Kong – that this kid…

Twenty years after his premature death at just 33 years old, the influence of Martyn Bennett is still keenly felt. His final album, Grit (2003), redefined the possibilities and vitality of Scottish traditional music. Its soundscape, inspiration and significance firmly established Bennett as a trailblazing revolutionary – an innovator of Celtic fusion and champion of reinterpreting the Scots folk tradition. Bennett was born in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada, in 1971 to Welsh geologist Ian Knight and Scottish singer and folklorist Margaret Bennett. Following his parents’ separation, he relocated with his mother to Scotland, eventually settling in Kingussie when he was six years old. The bagpipes soon called, and by the age of 12, Bennett was winning prizes in junior piping competitions. Regular appearances at various festivals opened his eyes to…

Interviews with great musicians are often fascinating, but they are rarely quite as memorable as this one. Lassana Diabaté, surely the world’s finest exponent of the balafon, the ancient African wooden xylophone, is seated in front of the instrument that he plays “every morning and evening”. And whenever he gets the opportunity, he illustrates his answers by breaking into subtle, rippling and rhythmic demonstrations of how the balafon can sound in the hands of a virtuoso. We’re in the front room of Lucy Durán’s house in north London. An academic and producer who specialises in the music of both Mali and Cuba, Durán helps translate from French and adds her opinions as Lassana talks about his latest venture, Guitari Baro, an all-instrumental trio which sees him join forces with two…

VOTE What’s your favourite album of 2025? Vote for our Readers’ Album of the Year by visiting bit.ly/SLMA25_PUBLIC THE SONGLINES MUSIC AWARDS 2025 PLAYLIST Featuring tracks from this year’s winning albums, the Songlines Music Awards 2025 playlist is now available to listen to on streaming platforms. To listen, scan the QR code on the left or visit: linktr.ee/SLMA2025…

The core songs were recorded on a day off in Melbourne during a tour. What prompted that moment, and did it quickly become apparent that a new album was taking shape? Peter: David and Daniel Wilfred were staying with me at my place in Melbourne. We had nothing to do on our day off, and I suggested to Daniel that we record a couple of songs in my studio. Daniel said he wanted to record the songs about the honeybee. I set up a couple of drones and other textures quite quickly, and we hit record. It was very spontaneous, and Daniel was in amazing form that day. We ended up playing for hours and came out with a lot of material that formed the basis for Ŋurru Wäŋa. How…

1 YASMINE HAMDAN I REMEMBER I FORGET (Crammed Discs) Think Arabic trip-hop, think Yasmine Hamdan. Back in 2001, this indie-minded trailblazer emerged, shimmering, from the Middle East underground scene as half of the Beirut-based synth-pop duo Soapkills. Intent on spotlighting the destruction and hasty reconstruction of their civil-war-besieged city via their combination of electronic music and classical Arabic song, they released three albums, garnered a cult reputation, and then went their separate ways. Hamdan’s solo career – carved from a meld of evocative vocals, traditional modes and hazy electro-soundscapes – proceeded to skyrocket. I remember I forget, her third album, arrived after an eight-year hiatus, deftly balancing the personal and the political, the experimental and the accessible, in a sonic space whose stutters, shudders and push-me-pull-you tensions speak to a region newly…

Club Tounsi gets back to your roots in Tunisia. How did it come about? I’ve actually had the idea for this album since 2012. But life happened, and I really never had the time to actually produce it. But it stayed in my head. So when I went to Tunisia in 2023, I met some people and randomly spoke about this idea, and they said, “Okay, we can hook you up.” And it happened so fast. They said, “What about starting to record tomorrow?” I was like, “What? Okay, let’s do it, fuck it!” It was all on the spot. The whole process took four days. One day, talking to the people, making appointments, choosing the musicians, and then three days of recording. I finished the production in my studio in…

1 WAYKU SELVA SELVA (Buh Records) Since Peruvian cumbia came to international attention in the late 2000s as a distinct brand of electric guitar-wielding, four-to-the-floor, headswirling wizardry, there have been many imitators of the style. Percy A Flores Navarro, originally from Tarapoto on the outskirts of the Peruvian Amazon, did his homework (having previously worked with legendary cumbieros Grupo 2000), but his debut as Wayku offers something a little different. Tracks like ‘Yanapuma’ and ‘Por La Márginal’ feature Indigenous percussion, twisting guitar and galloping basslines that could go on for hours, but then they are inspired by pandilla, an Amazonian style of music created for carnivals and all-night partying. ‘Amazonas’ is closer to a cumbia, but there’s a melodicity that feels akin to the hybrid work of Brazil’s Tropicalistas. Then, there…

Alejandra Cárdenas A Body Like a Home Other People Following acclaimed collaborations with Laura Robles and Titi Bakorta, Peruvian experimentalist Alejandra Cárdenas, aka Ale Hop, takes a more solipsistic stance on her new record. The latest output from Nicolas Jaar’s Other People label, A Body Like a Home merges electric guitar, electronics and field recordings to craft a deeply textural exploration of trauma, healing and belonging. Cárdenas’ voice – sometimes speaking, sometimes singing – anchors the work, her lyrics blurring autobiography, religious imagery and excoriating social commentary into soundscaped sermons. ‘Motherland’ crackles with distortion and urgency, while ‘Evangelina’ and ‘Early Road’ sketch out Andean motifs with noodling guitars and syncopated percussion. ‘Tear Gas Clouds’ builds from crawling electronics to doomy maelstrom before the atmosphere clears, revealing honeyed guitar melodies. The…

Balkan Taksim Acide Balkanique Buda Musique/Socadisc Looking for a guaranteed smash hit for your next world music dance party? Look no further than Acide Balkanique, the second album by Bucharest-based multi-instrumentalist Sașa-Liviu Stoianovici and electronics wizard Alin Zãbrãuțeanu, a duo who do their genre-melding under the moniker Balkan Taksim. Acide Balkanique is a collection of eight trippy tracks slathered in psych-rock reverb and dark ambient space effects, pulsing with techno energy and carrying melancholic melodies drawn from Carpathian/Balkan folk music. The all-instrumental ‘ORHIDEJA’ (Orchid) blossoms with a traditional desert-style beat rendered on frame drums in support of a Farfisa-sounding organ, fuzzy electro-saz and thrumming tanbur. Enveloped by haunting vocals, ‘MASTIKA’ (a sweet liqueur) whirls and twirls in a trance-inducing evocation of traditional ring dancing. ‘FELINAR’ (Lantern) cuts a downtempo groove…

One of Mali’s most loved musicians, Afel Bocoum grew up learning from desert-blues legend Ali Farka Touré, and over the years has shaped his own style that mixes soulful guitar, traditional Songhoy rhythms and hopeful lyrics. Now, with a new album on the way, he’s touring with a small trio (featuring Ali Bounaly Traoré on guitar and Mahalmadane Bountel Traoré on calabash/percussion) that brings his music back to its roots through voice, rhythm and space. Afel’s songs often speak to the struggles his homeland faces, but they always carry a message of unity and togetherness. 17 JAN Celtic Connections, Glasgow; 18 JAN Band On the Wall, Manchester; 20 JAN Liverpool Philharmonic; 21 JAN The Apex, Bury St Edmunds; 22 JAN St John’s College Auditorium, Oxford; 23 JAN St George’s, Bristol;…

Taken from the Afrikaans word for musician, maskandi is a commercialised Southern African folk music characterised by a rhythmic picking style on acoustic guitar. It was popularised by migrant workers – significant numbers of whom were Zulu men – in the early 20th century. These workers sang and played guitar during long commutes, giving the music its early form. Apartheid South Africa’s Natal province and the urban centres surrounding Johannesburg are seen as the cradle of maskandi, though musicologist Joyce Makwenda traces its influences to the regional renditions of ukupika (picking), as practised by Ndebele musicians from what is now Zimbabwe, such as Sabelo Mathe, Josaya Hadebe and Geoge Sibanda. It was John ‘Phuzushukela’ Bhengu, a street performer from Nkandla (South Africa), who set in place the template for modern…

Songlines was launched in 1999 and is the definitive magazine for world music – music that has its roots in all parts of the globe, from Mali to Mexico, India to Iraq. Whether this music is defined as traditional, contemporary, folk or fusion, Songlines is the only magazine to truly represent and embrace it. However, Songlines is not just about music, but about how the music fits into the landscape; it’s about politics, history and identity. Delivered in both print and digital formats, Songlines, through its extensive articles and reviews, is your essential and independent guide to a world of music and culture, whether you are starting on your journey of discovery or are already a seasoned fan. WEBSITE songlines.co.uk FACEBOOK facebook.com/songlines EMAIL letters@songlines.co.uk INSTAGRAM @SonglinesMag…

CHILE: Winner Ignacia Fernández surprised audiences at the Miss World Chile competition with a death-metal singing performance. She later said, “It was a great experience to break down barriers on open television, inspire, and show that you don’t have to fear the prejudices of others”… EUROPE: Amid controversy surrounding Israel’s second place finish in 2025, Eurovision has introduced stricter rules to ensure that public votes carry less weight and has also banned cross-platform advertising. They hope to promote fairness and discourage disproportionate, government-backed promotions. A number of public broadcasters in countries including Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands have threatened to boycott the event if Israel are allowed to participate in 2026… JAMAICA: In response to the devastation left by Hurricane Melissa, the Jamaican government launched a five-city international benefit concert…

THE CENTRE Carroll Thompson Hopelessly In Love (Carib Gems, 1981) When I really started listening to reggae music, I was listening to all Jamaican artists and predominately male-led vocals. So, when I first heard Carroll Thompson, I was like ‘hold on’. Firstly, here is this sweet soprano angel that I immediately identified vocally with. And then, after learning she had grown up in London and was from Jamaican descent – that she was interpreting that sound and those influences in her own way – I locked in immediately and was so excited when I heard Hopelessly In Love for the first time. It was just so formative when I started to make my own music. It really inspired me as far as being a female reggae artist. I don’t even…

WOMEX, the World Music Expo, returned to Tampere, Finland for the second time in its history from October 22–26. As well as conferences, awards, documentary screenings and no shortage of networking, the event included 60 artist showcases. These were a chance for emerging global artists to find international booking agents, festival slots, record labels and media coverage. Clearly, there are too many names to mention here, but from those that Songlines witnessed, we must tip our hats to Belarusian accordionist Yegor Zabelov, the ridiculously uplifting Chinese Sani folk group Manhu, ‘king of bhangra’ Malkit Singh (who put on one hell of a show), Dutch-Kurdish singer Meral Polat and her powerful group, vocal sensations The Baltic Sisters, feel-good Capeverdean tour de force Mário Lúcio and improvisatory English folk duo Spafford Campbell.…

Electro Bamako Now (2015) West African roots meet psychedelic trance courtesy of a French-Malian trio on this infectiously danceable album, packed full of invention and verve. Maria Teresa & Moustaki Quartet Pour Un Ami (2016) Singer Maria Teresa pays tribute to the work of Egyptian-French singer-songwriter Georges Moustaki on a sublime and subtly swinging set. L’Attirail Road To Grasslands (2022) Xavier Demerliac and company take a musical road trip across the Great Plains, conjuring up a colourful cast of characters soundtracked with bluegrass, folk and rock.…

1 GANAVYA NILAM (LEITER) It may seem slightly unfair to all our other contenders that Nilam won Songlines’ Best Album of 2025. Not because the work doesn’t deserve it, but because it was somewhat reluctantly made by the artist. In fact, it only came into being after co-founder of record label LEITER, Felix Grimm (who produced the album), realised that she had a number of songs she performed live that weren’t yet recorded. ganavya, despite having many other projects she wished to record, viewed it as a why-not low-risk venture. The result, however, seems anything but casual. Deeply moving, the record spans just seven tracks, each connected to the theme of land or earth, which is the meaning of Nilam in Tamil. It follows, then, that there’s a profound sense of…

1 ADRIAN RASO & FANFARE CIOCĂRLIA THE DEVIL RIDES AGAIN (Asphalt Tango Records) Sometimes a musical collaboration produces such sonic alchemy that it can’t be left as a one-off project. This proved to be the case with legendary Romanian brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia and Canadian fusion guitarist Adrian Raso, who first came together for 2014’s incendiary Devil’s Tale. More than a decade after their first meeting, The Devil Rides Again is their reunion. The album finds Fanfare Ciocărlia in vintage form, delivering all the elements they’ve become known for – from reverberant tuba parts and thudding bass drums to richly detailed brass fanfares and intricate trumpet, saxophone and clarinet solos. The virtuosic and wide-ranging playing of Raso is the ideal foil for the Romanian’s invigorating Gypsy stomp. Opener ‘Bugatti Be Kiddin’…

Can you explain the name of your band, Gigspanner? Well, a gig spanner is a bottle opener. It comes from the 1940s and 50s jazz bands, you know, ‘Who’s got the gig spanner?’ I thought, well, that’ll do. I like a bottle. And the title of the album, Turnstone. The turnstone is a seashore wading bird. Why did you choose that? The turnstone rummages around for things under stones, and that’s what we do, really, finding material and songs. Several tracks on Turnstone feature jazz-like solos on violin and guitar, and the album ends with a percussion solo. How does improvisation work within the context of traditional songs that tell stories? Although I had always improvised and enjoyed playing in that way, I didn’t think until I started playing with…

1 ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION ARCADIA (Down The Road Records) If Arcadia proves anything, it’s that absence can elevate the already superlative character of a band’s music another notch or two. Fourteen years after Paper Airplane debuted at #1 on the Billboard Country, Bluegrass and Folk Charts, Alison Krauss & Union Station released Arcadia. During the interim, band members pursued various ventures, including Krauss’ celebrated collaborations with Robert Plant. While some of its material is rooted in historical events, Arcadia depicts a mythical time and place. The music, Krauss explained to one interviewer, reflects “that whole idea of ‘in the good old days when times were bad’.” Most of the songs were written by contemporary tunesmiths such as Robert Lee Castleman, Viktor Krauss, Bob Lucas, JD McPherson and Sarah Siskind.…

It seems like you’ve had a busy 2025. Did you release something like 14 albums? Why do you think you have been so prolific? Fourteen [albums], yes. That’s a lot for us. A few things aligned: eight were tapes. Not because we’ve suddenly turned into a cassette label, but because tapes allow us to follow the energy instead of waiting around for budgets or long production cycles. There was also something in the air. Lebanese musicians are pushing again after years of collective fatigue: SANAM released their second album on Constellation, Sary Moussa on Other People, Yara Asmar’s new record, Yasmine Hamdan returning. That sense of motion felt real. Ruptured started in 2009, and it’s still just the two of us (Fadi [Tabbal] in Beirut, me in Canada) trading WhatsApp…

1 VARIOUS ARTISTS A TRIBUTE TO THE KING OF ZYDECO (Valcour Records) This commemorative set rose from the swamps of the bayou (OK, Dockside Studio, south of Lafayette) and out into the summer. Dedicated to the ‘King of Zydeco’, Clifton Chenier, the creator of the original gumbo, it marked his 100th birthday, and was led off at a wild gallop by the Rolling Stones, with Steve Riley on accordion and Chenier’s drummer Robert St Julien on the skins, cutting one of their most raucous rackets in ages. Jagger’s voice and harmonica, and Richards’ Telecaster (the one he used for ‘Brown Sugar’) raise hell and their hats to tradition while turning it right round. Riley later said that Richards’ playing was precisely what would get you fired from any zydeco band. Too…

Gabba Smestániá Drengestua Records Welcome to life in a rambling house in Oslo where Gabba hangs out, parties, barbecues or just jams in the backyard. Their vibe is driven by the voice of John André Eira who sits in a corner while his søringa ‘southerners’, as he calls them, join in on percussion, guitars, trumpet or harmonium. The music’s spirit, though, comes from over a thousand miles further north, where John was born in the village of Mazé, into a family where Sámi traditions go back several generations. John is one of many young Sámi musicians passionate about their heritage and the different Sámi languages. His voice is rich with the resonance and ornamentation of the wide-ranging joik vocal traditions, here expressing grief, the life of a newborn, or the…

New Orleans has clearly shaped your sound. How has the city influenced your music? I feel like I really grew up here in my 20s and 30s. It’s something so hard to describe. I think that New Orleans is like a character in my story. And then there’s just so much music here that I’ve honed into or experienced and learned from that has influenced me in my music. You were born in New York City. Can you tell us a little about how you ended up moving to New Orleans? I met a band in Washington, and they played a lot of covers from The Meters, and I started obsessing about music from New Orleans. And then I was telling my sister [Leyla McCalla] about it, and she sent…

Believed to be of Asian origin, with a history dating back 3,000 years (according to archaeologists), the jaw harp is one of the most beguiling instruments out there. It consists of a flexible tongue which is attached to a rigid frame. It is played by placing the jaw harp against either one’s teeth or lips – depending on the style of instrument – with the mouth used as a resonator. Different notes, sounds and effects can then be produced by moving the tongue around the mouth. There is much discussion over the name of the instrument, with some preferring jew’s harp (despite their being no Jewish connection), mouth harp or trump, though in total there are believed to be over 1,000 names for the instrument due to its extensive history…

It is in the West Yorkshire market town of Todmorden, specifically at the Folklore Centre, where I first meet Dave Brewis, the filmmaker and producer of the series Gatherings. It is a fitting place to meet; the rafters hang with colourful homespun creations, while books on all aspects of folklore line the walls. Today, folk enthusiasts have come to hear talks by several speakers, including celebrated documentarian Doc Rowe, an expert – although he would never claim to be one – on the rich and varied British folk traditions that pepper our personal and collective calendars. Following today’s talk, Dave and Doc will visit Haxey, North Lincolnshire, to show the sixth episode of Gatherings, which is centred on the enigmatic Haxey Hood event that takes place each January, to its…

“Hi, my name is Willis Chimano, and I’m an amazing human being,” says the Kenyan singer at the start of our interview. His unashamed sense of confidence could be a result of being a member of one of Kenya’s most successful groups, Sauti Sol. Before they announced a hiatus in 2023, the four-piece were signed to Universal, had toured the world and won awards, including Best African Act at the MTV Europe Music Awards and Best Group at the 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards. They had also collaborated with artists such as Burna Boy, Spoek Mathambo and Tiwa Savage. With such a list of achievements, it would be fair to say the swagger is justified. Yet it is more likely that his immodest introduction is a showing of radical self…

During a live set at The Hague’s Voltage club in 1988, the Curaçaoborn DJ called Moortje accidentally ramped up a dancehall track to 45rpm instead of the usual 33rpm. The effect was mesmerising, the crowd moving from the sways and nods of reggae to the bounce and grind of this new, faster style. Bubbling was born and, alongside it, a dance – named after the rhythmic sway of the rotating hips – circling in bubble-like shape. Moortje was part of a growing population of Dutch Antilleans who had moved from the Caribbean to the Netherlands. This coincided with an influx of Surinamese people who migrated to the Netherlands after the South American country gained independence in the 1970s. This Afro-Caribbean Dutch population settled in urban centres across western Netherlands, primarily…

Steve Martin & Alison Brown drop by to discuss their new all-star bluegrass album. We also catch up with Lebanese artist Yasmine Hamdan as she prepares to take her Songlines award-winning album out on tour, and we talk to Algerian desert rockers Imarhan about their latest, and perhaps best, album to date. Glasgow-born Egyptian duo The Ayoub Sisters will be telling us about their Arabic classical crossovers, and we will venture deep into Kashmir to find one of the last custodians preserving the Dard-Shin community’s oral traditions. Plus, we have a focus on AI, looking at how it’s affecting musicians and how it can be used creatively with traditional music.…

Where Kneecap go, chaos follows. When they jump on a video call fresh from putting the finishing touches on their new album, their energy, and their bodies, are all over the place. The phone they’re calling on keeps tipping over – at one point Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) agrees with Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh) so emphatically that he falls off the cramped couch, disappearing from view while nearly taking out the balaclava-clad DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh). This manic energy is a hallmark of one of the most talked-about acts of the year, a group that has made a mockery of the British government while sparking an Irish-language revival whose anti-colonial impact will be felt for generations. While growing a solid fanbase in Ireland since the release…

It’s almost midnight in Reykjavik, and the Tjörnin lake is frozen. Mercifully, the arched doors of the Gothic-Revivalist Fríkirkjan church are open for the Iceland Airwaves festival, with music providing a cloak from the freezing temperatures. Ólöf Arnalds stands in the chancel – the classically trained musician can play a wealth of instruments, from violin to koto, but today she approaches the microphone with only a guitar. She plays ‘Tár í morgunsárið´, a gently plucked song driven by the lilted melody of her imploring vocals. Translating to ‘Tears at Dawn’, it is a track from her new album Spíra, which contemplates emptiness from an absence of faith (she renounced hers as a teenager). Fríkirkjan is a fitting setting for the performance. When we meet beforehand, Ólöf tells me how the…

Cuíca To the untrained eye, the Brazilian cuíca looks like a drum. But it doesn’t sound like a drum. In fancy organological terms, it’s technically a ‘friction membranophone’. The sound is produced by a stick attached to the bottom of the instrument’s drum skin; when it is rubbed with a damp cloth, it emits a curious sound, similar to a hooting monkey (or an opossum, from which the instrument gets its name). Under the control of an inexperienced player, it can sound as if the musician is having a heated argument with a balloon. And yet the cuíca is a staple in the samba orchestra, and a common fixture in carnivals and folk parades across the country. It’s quirky, unique and very funky, and it’s one of the defining sounds…

What first brought you together with Fanfare Ciocărlia, for your first collaboration, Devil’s Tale? The first time I heard Fanfare Ciocărlia was on the Borat soundtrack. At first, I thought it must be digitally manipulated because it was so fast and precise. I did some research and found out that this was a real band. I reached out to manager Henry Ernst and pitched the idea of recording an album together. A true East-meets-West collaboration. The band liked the material I wrote for the album, and we met in Toronto to record the project. What was different about recording the new album compared to Devil’s Tale? I believed we only scratched the surface of what we were capable of musically on Devil’s Tale. After touring together, I better understood what…

1 CAETANO VELOSO & MARIA BETHÂNIA CAETANO & BETHÂNIA AO VIVO (Sony Music) This recording of 42 songs across 33 tracks, lasting nearly two hours, is the result of a tour through Brazil’s main capitals that reunited the two siblings on stage for the first time since a 1978 tour. This was a show designed to please the crowds, conceived for arenas and stadiums. The pair’s contrasting energies but remarkably similar voices mean that they can slip in and out of each other’s songs through a setlist of tensile strength. There’s an overview of both of their careers with a selection from the early days of tropicâlia to a brand-new unreleased song, ‘Um Baiana’, which appeared in the penultimate performance of the tour, played to the Salvadorian rhythm of samba-reggae, where…

1 AMMAR 808 CLUB TOUNSI (Glitterbeat Records) Fans of AMMAR 808 have had a bonus year in 2025: first, our appetites were whetted with a storming odyssey of a live album in Live at Another Sky in February, then we got blown away by his third fulllength studio album – the first since 2020 – in the shape of Club Tounsi in May. After previous albums exploring phreaked manipulations of pan-Maghrebi and Tamil music, AMMAR 808 (alter ego of Tunisian producer Sofyann Ben Youssef) takes on the phenomenon of the mezoued – the Tunisian bagpipes and their eponymous folk style. The pipes and their music were transplanted from the countryside to the cities in the 1950s, accreting influences from every direction along the way, and eventually becoming solidified as an urban…

1 TOUMANI DIABATÉ KAIRA (Chrysalis Records) The most famous kora player of our era, Toumani Diabaté (1965–2024), released his solo debut in 1988 on Joe Boyd’s Hannibal label. Produced by Lucy Durán, it was one of the first albums to introduce this sublimeWest African instrument with 21 strings to Western audiences. Toumani recorded it in London when he was invited by Durán to perform with his father Sidiki Diabaté – then known as ‘the king of the kora’ – in the BBC Radio 3 festival Music of the Royal Courts at London’s Southbank Centre. ‘Kaira’, the laid-back title-track, means ‘peace’ or ‘happiness’, and it sounds almost Baroque in its sophistication and refined decorative detail. The album features ‘Kaira’ alongside four other classics of the kora repertoire, including ‘Jarabi’, with an infectious…

It seems there’s a paucity of good songwriting in bluegrass and Americana these days. It’s gotten so bad that some stars are turning to songwriting ringers in Nashville to pull out their hits. If you too have despaired at bad songwriting recently, turn to Eli West’s new album, The Shape of a Sway (Tender and Mild ★★★★). With an eye on the natural world and an almost biblical ear for writing, West’s been one of my favourite songwriters since his days with Cahalen Morrison in Seattle. Here, he cushions his songs in lush old-time and bluegrass settings, including some tasty tunes too. Maybe the biggest compliment I can give him is that I loved every song on the album, yet still fast forwarded one (the cover of Paul Simon’s ‘Hearts…

Mustafa Said & Asil Ensemble Maqam Pilgrims Mapamundi Música Egyptian-born oud player and composer Mustafa Said is one of the most illustrious names in Arabic music today. Born blind, he learned music through Braille. He’s led the Asil Ensemble since 2003, a fine band of traditional players on various sizes of oud, qanun zither, nai flute, tanbur, violin, viola, cello and various percussion. Said was awarded an Aga Khan Music Award in 2019. This is his first album since then, although his fifth with the group. It opens with a short solo performance of sung Sufi poetry, written by Maymunah al-Asheqah, an 11th-century female poet who is said to have been able to walk on water. It’s followed by a substantial instrumental suite for the whole orchestra in ‘Maqam Segah’,…

KROK is your first album written in Belarusian. What inspired this shift from Russian to your native language, and how did it influence the songwriting process? For sure, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its growing influence in my country did not make me want to write more songs in Russian, but what feels most important to me is that I wanted to reconnect with my Belarusian identity and present this beautiful, mellow language to the listeners. I started it as a challenge, as I wasn’t writing in Belarusian before. At first it was not easy, but as the time passed, I felt that it was becoming more and more natural to me, and then I was able to write something that I feel is my strongest lyrics to date. The…

Songlines’ pick of the bunch… Sessa (9 FEB YES, Manchester; 10 FEB Strange Brew, Bristol; 11 FEB Rich Mix, London) Blending samba, soul and psychedelic sound, Brazil’s Sessa is touring his latest album, Pequena Vertigem de Amor, a meditative exploration of love that expands his acoustic sound into new realms of cosmic intimacy. ANGELICA SALDANA UPCOMING UK & IRELAND The Albion Christmas Band Folk-rock favourites will lead the audience on a festive journey through Britain’s Christmas traditions. 11 DEC Liverpool Philharmonic; 12 DEC Warwick Arts Centre; 13 DEC Norden Farm Arts, Maidenhead; 14 DEC The Stables, Milton Keynes; 15 DEC Kings Place, London. Christmas @ Kings Place A few of the festive musical highlights lined up at London’s Kings Place. 12 DEC A Winter Union; 13 DEC Jess Gillam Ensemble;…

Any exploration of English folk customs in song begins with Frost and Fire by The Watersons, an early concept album structured to follow the seasons of the year, hence its subtitle, A Calendar of Ritual and Magic Songs. When it was released in 1965, it shocked its audience – ‘delight’ might be a better word – that such a trove of English ritual and magic existed. The second shock – of the more ‘surprising’ variety – was the manner of its delivery. The singing of The Watersons – a brother (Mike), two sisters (Norma and Lal), and a second cousin (John Harrison) from Hull – demonstrated a highly developed sense of rhythmic and melodic phrasing, as well as an instinctive feel for harmony. The historic authority on English folk music,…

Júlia Colom will be spending her Christmas Eve the same way she has done for years: performing ‘El Cant de la Sibil·la’ to inmates at Mallorca’s only prison. “I’ve been going since I was seven, and I still do it as a part of my Christmas ritual”, she tells me. ‘El Cant de la Sibil·la’ is a Gregorian chant with origins dating back to the 10th century that chronicles the apocalypse, foreseen by the prophetess, Sibyl. While the author of the song is unknown, it is thought to have originated in polytheistic eras of Ancient Greece and Rome, when multiple Sibyls were considered divine oracles. It has survived through oral tradition alone. “Sibyl is the woman who knows what is going to happen and goes to the Earth to say…