I've Forgotten Now Who I Used to Be

The producer Ian Brennan has for some years been on a mission to give a platform to the voices of the unheard and dispossessed across the African continent, from the persecuted albino population of Tanzania and genocide survivors in Rwanda to the inmates of Malawi's Zomba Prison. This, Brennan's latest project, was recorded clandestinely in three villages in northern Ghana and involves a group of women shunned and ostracised as witches, often it seems as a ruse to steal their land after their husband's passing.

Most of the 100 women were elderly and all but one had never played music or written songs before. In characteristic Brennan fashion, they were encouraged to shed their inhibitions and most of the songs are ‘instant compositions,’ using ad hoc instruments created from corn husks, a teapot, tin cans and tree branches. Sung in regional dialect or the lesser-spoken languages of Mampruli and Dagbani, the lyrics are untranslated and indecipherable, and as with many of Brennan's productions it doesn't make for easy listening. Most of the 20 tracks are less than two minutes – but there's a raw and honest authenticity that is utterly compelling.