Homeland (Chapter 1)

With his latest album, it is nice to see that kora player Seckou Keita continues to push boundaries. For Homeland (Chapter 1), Seckou is joined by a cast of collaborators for an album that contemplates the idea of home. “Since the events of 2020, my mind and heart have been actively seeking the answers to so many questions in relation to my UK adopted home and my Senegalese native one,” he says in the liner notes. Appropriately, the 12 tracks here were recorded and mixed between Senegal, the UK, Belgium and Germany and feature four languages – Mandinka, Wolof, English and French. Homeland opens with a warm welcome to the ‘citoyens du monde’ (citizens of the world) as his kora sparkles beneath the spoken word of Abdoulaye Sidibé on ‘Bienvenue’. The guest appearances include Daara J Family, singer Bah Kouyaté, the aforementioned Sidibé, and poets Zena Edwards and Hannah Lowe, whose spoken word pieces (‘Reflections’ and ‘Deportation Blues’ respectively) are the most arresting of the album. With the pop and urban elements throughout, the music here makes for a very different affair than his purely acoustic outings like 22 Strings, African Rhapsodies or his work with Catrin Finch. What particularly shines here is the heartfelt exploration of home, country and belonging. Always true to his griot lineage, the heart and strength of Homeland really lie in its storytelling.