Resilience: Songs of Uganda

A former member of Uganda's longest lasting and most celebrated group the Afrigo Band, Rachel Magoola has released her seventh solo album. She is perhaps best known for her massive hit ‘Obangaina’, which she performed with the Afrigo Band. In addition to her successful musical career she is these days highly respected within the Ugandan community for her philanthropy and position as a member of parliament representing her region.

Resilience is a collection of rhythmically upbeat songs, some traditional and some new, with profound lyrical messages that reflect the hardships and struggle that the Ugandan population faces. Her voice is confident, versatile, and stylistically reminiscent of the late Abeti Masikini from neighbouring Congo. Magoola's lyrics are sung in Ugandan dialects and some of the songs feature traditional folk instruments like the endingidi (single-string fiddle), adungu (nine-string bow harp), xylophone, thumb piano and traditional percussion. The superb backing musicians are able to effortlessly switch from traditional instrumentation to electric soukous rhythms with bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Njoroge Kiracho's impressive guitar. It's a polished, varied and thoroughly entertaining album.