Moçambique

Born in Maputo 52 years ago but now resident in Sweden, Celso Paco released his excellent debut album Dugongo in 2011. Moçambique, his new recording, is a rootsy affair that mixes various African styles with a strong rock sensibility, Paco's throaty vocals and traditional percussion being backed by a Swedish four-piece band. ‘No Dara’ is all spiralling soukous guitars, played expertly by the Swedes Hans Edberg and Hakan Hellquist. ‘Bonjour’ boasts a deep marrabenta groove. The Afro-reggae of ‘Com Licença’ owes something to the influence of Lucky Dube and ‘Koropita’ also boasts a reggae beat, which is combined with a touch of South African township jazz. ‘Os Filhos da Pobre’ sounds like a traditional Mozambican folk song and the haunting ‘Me’ has English lyrics by the late novelist Henning Mankell who is best known for the noirish Kurt Wallander crime novels.

Two covers produce mixed results. A version of the Police's ‘One World’ is a routine dub reggae workout, but Paco's take on Bob Dylan's 1976 composition ‘Mozambique’ (here as ‘Moçambique’) is smart and irresistible, buoyed by some haunting saxophone and underpinned by the gently throbbing pulse of kalimba and xylophone.