Alumaye

The second album from the Burkinabé kamalengoni player Massa Dembele has a much bigger sound compared to his mostly solo debut from 2017, Mezana Dounia. Here he is joined by a full band including balafon, folikan (flute) and bara, calabash, djembé and tama drums.

The album has a lovely organic, unplugged atmosphere to it, although there are occasional appearances by electric guitar and bass the further you get through the tracks, used sparingly enough to add an interesting sonic flavour without changing the overall vibe. There are also little bursts of flavour from the folikan of Moussa Saifal Diarra, whose vocalisations draw sonic comparisons to the jazz flute of Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

And allowing these sounds – and Dembele's Mande (and sometimes English) lyrics – to flourish are the kamalengoni, balafon and drums, which build up grooves that are seemingly infinite but, like everything in life, end up ultimately, disappointingly finite. Considering the brevity of this album, it feels as if there could have been room to extend some of the tracks a little bit to really dig deep into those grooves, and get them wedged deep into the subconscious.