I Love You Inna

Hailing from Gao in northern Mali, Konaté's roots are steeped in the desert blues of the Songhai people. But the most impressive aspect of his fifth solo album is the way he's colonised so many Malian styles to the point that I Love You Inna sounds like a kaleidoscopic primer for West African music.

On ‘Oumar Bakoi’ he rocks with the raw power of the late Lobi Traoré as he sings a lyric that translates as ‘Hey are all my fans here? Get ready to dance.’ On the title-track his guitar playing has the spacious elegance of Djelimady Tounkara while on ‘Badje Bisindje’ his soulful vocals uncannily evoke Senegal's Youssou N’Dour. ‘Almounakaf’ sounds like Tinariwen attempting a reggae groove and packs a righteously angry message to the jihadists (‘You brought all this destruction to our country. Get out!’). ‘Mariama’ mines classic Ali Farka Touré/Afel Bocoum territory, and ‘Koima Djine’ is a wah-wah guitar wig-out calling on the spirits of the Niger River to end the drought.

Elsewhere ‘Ni Tchilla Sibara’ hits as hard as Songhoy Blues at their heaviest and ‘Wa Toto’ even ventures into a kind of cosmic African jazz-rock. Every one of the ten tracks offers something different and on this showing Konaté really deserves to be as big a star on the international stage as he is at home in the thumping nightclubs of Bamako.