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Togo's musical culture combines the chants and beats of vodoun with influences drawn from its larger neighbours – Benin and Nigeria to the east, Ghana to the west and Burkina Faso and Mali to the north. All of this comes together seamlessly and gloriously on the second album by the Togo All Stars, recorded in the Togolese capital Lomé under ‘creative director’ Ekue Leopold Messan, aka Energy Federator. The line-up, which has changed considerably since 2017's self-titled debut, spans several generations. Veteran singer Aguey Cudjoe was an Afro-funk pioneer in Accra in the 70s before guitarist Gilbert Openya was even born. Percussionist Moise Agbozo learned his trade in Mali, saxophonist Elga Branco in Senegal playing with Youssou N’Dour.

The opener, ‘Ancestors Calling’, is a prime slice of electric vodoun-rock. ‘Avaeme’ and ‘Up to the Sky’ are funked-up highlife offerings energetically led by Cudjoe, while the simmering Afrobeats of ‘Adze Gbalo’ and ‘Everybody Get It’ channel Fela Kuti. With Branco's sax joined by trombone and trumpet, the pulsating horns run wild on the impossibly funky ‘Let Them Say’. The album closes with ‘Reclaim Yourself’ as Branco's solitary sax wails like Albert Ayler or Ornette Coleman in some otherworldly free jazz improv over hypnotic vodoun chanting.