Dieuf-Dieul de Thiès

After an early run of success, Senegalese eight-piece Dieuf-Dieul de Thiès (Give-Receive) split in 1983, four years into their story. The tale picks up again with a reunion in 2015, two subsequent European tours and now the release of their first studio album, featuring rerecorded classics from their early-80s heyday. It’s a sure date for lovers of ebullient West African grooves fuelled by chiming guitars, cross-rhythmic currents, brilliant blasts of brass and a chorale of vocals, coalescing into a swaying, sweating body of music that’s reminiscent of the great West African bands – Baobab, Rail, Bembeya, Super Étoile – and energetic enough to bring the dead to life, if only to dance. This self-titled debut set high-kicks into gear from the off, with the band’s self-styled ‘Afro-Mandingo’ grooves setting the stall on the opener ‘Na Bineta’, through the multilayered, guitar-driven Senegalese funk of ‘Am Sa Waay’, to the two live tracks to close, ‘Alin Na Djibé’ and ‘Ndiguële’, with the late guitarist Pape Seck and singer Bass Sarr from the original line-up joined by a new generation of players. The set was recorded using vintage, analogue equipment, right down to the mixing desk and tube mics, to capture, contain and release that classic West African sound.