Luso Noir – Music from Portuguese Speaking Africa

Whether it's the folk of Madredeus, the samba of Chico Buarque or the manifold rhythms and cadences of Lusitanian Africa, the music of the Portuguese-speaking world has its own distinctive mood – a kind of sweet, wistful reflectiveness known in Portuguese as saudade. This haunting compilation by a Berlin-based Brazilian, Grace Kelly, is unified by this mood – from A Va Saty Va Lomo, the mournful opening track by Mingas & the Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Moçambique, to the last, Bonga's sweet shuffling coladeira, ‘Praça’, The journey between is a delight, if a little biased in favour of Mozambique.

There's a hefty contribution from the Orchestra Marrabenta Star de Moçambique and its much celebrated, golden-voiced singers, Wazimbo and Mingas, many of them gleaned from their classic and now deleted 1996 album Marrabenta Piquenique. These are complemented by tracks from fellow Mozambicans Ghorwane and Reziana Jaime, Angola's Bonga and Cape Verde's wonderful and all too often overlooked Simentera (featuring Mario Lúcio and Teté Alhinho). The album would perhaps have benefitted from a sprinkling of Guinea-Bissau gumbe music, and a little more from Cape Verde, but it is nonetheless delightful – satisfying yet easy to listen to without ever feeling like aural wallpaper.