Rwanda… You See Ghosts, I See Sky

Originally performing as a quartet, the Rwandan group The Good Ones have reduced to a duo for their fourth album. Adrien Kazigira and Janvier Havugimana reflect on the genocide years between 1959 and 1994 in a recording cut live and without overdubs at Kazigira’s family farm. It is an understandably personal and melancholic recording which, in the Kinyarwanda language, details the horrors of genocide, family losses and personal tribulations.

Acoustic guitar and improvised percussion (hand-clapping, tambourine, or the tapping of farm implements) back the two voices. On ‘My Son Has Special Needs, but There Is Nowhere for Him to Go’ the guitar is plugged into an amplifier with a particularly earthy and engaging distortion. ‘Forgiveness Can Be Found’ has the addition of a charming female vocal harmony and on the track ‘Berta, Please Sing a Love Song for Me’ there is the surprise of a beautifully random and meandering horn section. The album’s release date of April 8 coincides with the UN Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Rwanda Genocide.