Track Listing:

01 Kamelemba
02 Fadjamou
03 Diaraby Nene
04 Minata Waraba
05 Saa Magni
06 Bena Bena
07 KounKoun
08 Djoukourou
09 Yere Faga
10 Mali Niale
11 Mogoya

LABEL: No Format!
CAT NO: NOF47LP
BARCODE: 3700551783205

OUMOU SANGARE Acoustic

LP Vinyl (includes download code)

Oumou Sangar releases a fully acoustic album on No Format. Re-imagining her much-praised 2017 release Mogoya totally unplugged, in live sessions recorded over just two days, Acoustic is the final chapter in a trio of related projects, following 2018s Mogoya Re-mixed edition, which saw Sangars compositions retooled by high-profile fans including Sampha, Spoek Mathambo and St Germain.

Acoustic consolidates Sangars position as Malis leading opinion-maker, established with her 250,000-selling 1989 debut Moussolou, which did much for the feminist cause in West Africa. Oumous capacity to confront suffering whilst preserving her connection to Malian values is reflected in two additional tracks added to Acoustic. Saa Magni, which laments the passing of Amadou Ba Guindo (member of the Orchestre National Badema), and Diaraby Nene (lifted from Mous-solou) in which Sangars lyrics dared to detail her first physical encounters. The release of Mogoya in 2017 signalled the return of Oumou Sangar after 8 years, during which she had been managing her numerous businesses (including agriculture & pisciculture).

With that album, the woman whod swapped selling water on the streets of Bamako for global stardom reconnected with her audience. Balancing the traditional music of Wassoulou and a forwards-facing curiosity, Malian instruments were augmented by electric guitar, bass and synths, with Tony Allen on drums. Oumou was painted by Congolese artist JP Mika for the front cover, and more recently sampled by Beyonc (who used Diaraby Nene without permission on MOOD 4 EVA). Never before had Sangar appeared so far removed from her home country its a dynamic that Acoustic redresses, with Oumou embodying the same freedom and audacity of her debut album. Its the fighter, the undefeated rebel that you find here on this snapshot of an album.