La Vie est Belle

It’s been 20 years since Amadou & Mariam rocketed into the African superstar league with Dimanche à Bamako, the album produced by Manu Chao that sold half a million copies worldwide. And it’s now been seven years since their last album of new songs. But here’s an 18-track compilation that sets out to show that the Malian couple love to collaborate. It of course includes their slinky and charming new single ‘Mogolu’ along with reminders of past glories and remixes. The set kicks off with the Damon Albarn-produced ‘Sabali’, which builds from a throbbing opening to a glorious swirling finale, and also from Welcome to Mali (2008) are ‘Ce N’est Pas Bon’, ‘Africa’, featuring the excellent K’Naan, and ‘Masiteladi (feat M)’. Elsewhere, the set includes that glorious guitar rocker ‘Dougou Badia (feat Santigold)’ from Folila (2012). And of course there are a batch of old favourites from Dimanche à Bamako. Which is all fine – but how about an all-new album?