Je Suis Africain

Reviewing the last will and testament of recently departed artists can sometimes be difficult with sentiment clouding critical judgement and a desire to err on the side of benevolence. No such dilemmas with Rachid Taha's final album, completed shortly before his death in September 2018, for Je Suis Africain stands alongside his finest work without any need for generosity.

The album was produced and co-written with Toma Feterman, founder of French global fusionistas La Caravane Passe. Blending Arabic, African and European styles with a rebel aesthetic, the title-track is a Taha classic as talking drums, balafon, spiralling soukous guitars and an Arab-Andalusian orchestra collide gloriously, and over which he quotes an array of inspirational figures, including Bob Marley, Malcolm X, Frantz Fanon and Angela Davis. ‘Ansit’ sets flute and Arabic strings against blues-rock guitar riffs and a gritty, punk-like vocal. ‘Like a Dervish’, his first ever song in English, has a desert-rock groove and a sly wit as he admits, ‘I know I'm cheating, my English is not so rich.’ ‘Wahdi’ is a duet featuring the haunting voice of Algerian singer Flèche Love over an extraordinary combination of Gnawa rhythms and Morricone-style mariachi trumpet. Rest in peace, Rachid Taha. We'll miss you but this is a fine way to remember your indomitable spirit.