Introducing the December 2024 issue of Songlines, featuring Mdou Moctar

The December 2024 issue (#203) of Songlines is out now, and we’ve got a guitar special looking at the place of one of the world’s most ubiquitous instruments. We chart the globe to reveal the World’s 50 Greatest Guitars, we speak to Mdou Moctar, Bombino and Etran de l’Aïr, three guitar bands from Niger leading a new wave of African desert rock (we also discuss the impact of the military coup in Niger) and we have a Beginner’s Guide to renegade guitarist Marc Ribot. We speak to sevdah revivalists Mostar Sevdah Reunion about their new album celebrating 25 years, have a conversation with one of Ireland’s most beloved folk singers, Christy Moore, talk to Seckou Keita about a joyful new release exploring his love of Afro pop, and hear from ganavya, an exciting new voice uniting spiritual jazz with South Asian classical traditions. Plus, Warsaw Street Music, Essential 10 Latin jazz crossover albums, London-based Brazilian project MOMO. and the artists currently bringing Québec, Canada, to life, as well as all the usual news, listings, reviews, competitions, and so much more.

Print and digital subscribers will also receive our accompanying Top of the World compilation featuring our pick of the month’s best new music – Justin Adams & Mauro Durante, Jake Blount & Mali Obomsawin, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Dal:um, Afro Celt Sound System, Joel Lyssarides & Georgios Prokopiou and more – as well as five bonus tracks from Gaelynn Lea, Muireann Bradley, Marc Ribot, Mostar Sevdah Reunion and more.

You can buy the latest issue or subscribe to get this and future issues right to your door as soon as they're published. We also offer digital subscriptions that give you access to every one of our 203 issues from 1999 to 2024… and beyond.