Calico Soul

The magic of like minds, especially musical ones, is that they often seem to meet serendipitously, and nowhere more so than in places like Goa, India, a magnet for creative nomads with spiritual yearnings. Singers and multi-instrumentalists Darlini Singh Kaul from London and Joy Tyson from California found each other in the hippy beach town of Arambol and bonded over their shared love of African music, while finding a ready-made community of artists exploring traditions including Indian classical, Arabic maqam and jazz. So evolved Farafi, fronted by the duo who sing in English and French as well as a curious anything-goes vocalese, variously inspired by Swahili, Yoruba and Xhosa, and wield an array of percussion instruments.

This crowdfunded debut by the now Berlin-based pair skips along organically. Buoyed by a ten-strong collective on guitars, oud, bansuri and saxophone, the ten originals (and one reinvented traditional tune) range from sparkling acoustic ballads to dramatic bluesy numbers such as ‘Djana Wofu’, a standout. Their harmonies are sweet and their compositions accomplished, though the flimsiness of their ‘Farafish’ language dilutes their one-love vibe. Still, it's very pleasant – although whether a non-African duo should name itself after Farafina, the Bamana term for ‘Land of the Black Skin’ is debatable and the stuff of a thousand decolonisation essays.