BIM#1

Kicking off with an attention-grabbing holler before skittering into Afrobeat on the opening track ‘Destiny’, this fabulous debut showcases Benin's vibrant contemporary scene while offering a paean to the former Kingdom of Dahomey, with its traditional ceremonies and voodoo roots. With side projects in music education and training, the seven-strong Bénin International Musical – or if you like, just BIM – are a tour de force, combining deeply felt old songs and percussive rhythms with guitar grooves, celestial choruses and electro beats that take the sound neatly into clubland while maintaining a sense of authenticity. French producer Jérôme Ettinger deftly steers the collective through tracks that trace the path of voodoo and related syncretic religions, taking in influences from Haiti, Cuba, Brazil and New Orleans in ways that are fluid and often entrancing.

There is jazz, blues and funk here, and Afrobeat, trip-hop and rap. ‘The Benin Atmosphere’ features local hip-hop act Yewhe Yeton growling phrases in Fon over soaring female harmonies and a male singer's rich, plaintive tenor. Throughout, vocal stylings are variously exquisite and rousing, particularly on the scatter-gun ‘Iyé’ and ‘Achika Wôgo’, a stunning, slow-burning ballad. Already booked to play Carnegie Hall this October, BIM are a major addition to the scene. They're also a stunning live act; UK festival programmers take note.