Malagasy Blues Song

Music and spirituality are intertwined in Madagascar. Lala Njava learned her warm, sonorous singing technique from the resident shaman in the village where shegrew up. She was struck by the power of the seer’s voice to transmit emotion and weave trance. Lala started to sing at home with her 15 siblings. Impromptu sessions spawned a family band Njava and they were soon performing ansta music (dominated by choral vocal and a kind of steel zither called a marovany) in villages and towns near their home. Success took them to the Malagasy capital Antananarivo, where the band absorbed musical influences from mainland Africa and the West, and in the 90s on to Europe. A cult following in Belgium and France brought Njava to the notice of electronica musicians and founders of Deep Forest Michel Sanchez and Eric Mouquet. Lala became a largely un-credited tour singer with their band, performing on their huge hit ‘Sweet Lullaby’, a more captivating, acoustic version of which is included on this record.

Malagasy Blues Song is Lala’s first solo album but it draws on her decades-long musical past and sounds a long way from a debut. These are mature songs – as lilting, laid-back and complex as a Cape Verde morna, as syncopated as Afrobeat and as filled with emotion as a Garifuna lament. Africa, Arabia and France, filtered through Madagascar, meet in the melodies and rhythms. These are woven together by a masterful backing band made up of Lala’s family members – all of whom sound as accomplished as first-rate session musicians. Lala’s strangely androgynous, bewitching voice coaxes and pleads over the top – filled with emotion yet never strained or diva-like. The result is an exquisite album that improves with every listen.