Africa Rekk

First, the good news. Youssou N’Dour is still in powerful, distinctive voice on his first studio album in over six years. And though it’s far more interesting than his reggae project Dakar-Kingston, it’s a mixed set in which he matches his mbalax roots against Western styles. It starts, in unusual if encouraging manner, with ‘Gorée’ – a song about the island that was once a staging post for slaves – treated with a jaunty backing, dominated by harmonica and sounding like a Senegalese country song. Then comes ‘Bull Ko Door’, a tribute to the late Congolese star Papa Wemba, with Youssou in fine, commanding voice, backed by sparse guitar before the unnecessary keyboards move in.

Other good tracks on Africa Rekk include praise songs honouring Oumar Foutiyou Tall and Serin Fallu, and the energetic ‘Ban La’, in which he is joined by the Congolese singer Fally Ipupa. He is less successful when he heads for contemporary pop territory. He is joined by the American R&B singer Akon, who spent part of his childhood in Senegal, for the singalong ‘Conquer the World’, and by the Nigerian singer Spotless for the equally pleasant but unremarkable pop soul track, ‘Dawal’.