Amadou & Mariam - LA CONFUSION
Sometimes, it is hard to escape the back story and let the music do the talking.
First, though, the back story. Husband and wife duo Amadou & Mariam are both blind, Amadou losing his sight at sixteen and Mariam at just five years old. Since marrying in 1980, the duo have been based between their native Mali, Cote D’Ivoire and France and have toured the world, Now in their sixties, LA CONFUSION is their ninth studio set and first in over five years.
Now for the music. The instrumentation mixes traditional Malian sounds with Western guitars, Indian and Dogon percussion, Arabic violins and woodwind and Buena Vista brass. In style, there are touches of trad West African sounds, blues, funk, soul and rock. With lyrics in Bambara, the national language of Mali, other African languages and some French, I have no idea what they are actually singing about. Whatever, the combination of the voices and the music sounds utterly joyful and I challenge anyone to listen to this without a smile on their face and a swing in their hips.
All in all, one of the most uplifting and happiest sounding albums I have heard in a long time.
8/10
