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Malian singer Mamani Keita made her name in electro-roots music with her collaboration with French musician Marc Minelli on the experi– mental and exciting Electro-Bamako. She further paved her way in the tricky world of bringing something rootsy – her Bamana musical tradition – to the world of urban electronica in her fabulous collaboration with French jazzman Nicolas Repac. This is their second piece of work together and it manages to be very different, though in the same mould. Mamani's voice leads this piece of work and it is full of intense expression, fired by an energy which matches the mixture of guitars – played by Africans and Europeans – a Rhodes piano and underlying layer of electronic samples. On ‘Doussou’ a gentle reggae beat and a simple melody allow Mamani's voice to stand unashamedly naked, while ‘Konia’ is laid upon the signature Keita-Repac dance beat, softened by a chorus of voices and spiced by the gorgeously rough rap-like vocals of kamalengoni (hunter's lute) player Adama Coulibaly.

One undeniable highlight is the title-track, which has a soft choral opening and ngoni notes that do nothing to betray the musical blast which is to come: a heavy beat led by guitars and the repeated line in West African French complaining that ‘it's not easy to earn French money/work work/it's cold, there's snow and wind/work work’. The lyrics are boldly honest, opening a window onto a space in which Mali meets France both musically and culturally. Rootsy, bold and brilliantly energetic, this is a great piece of work from start to finish.