The widely hailed Malian vocalist Oumou Sangaré re-imagines her much-praised 2017 Mogoya, totally unplugged, in live sessions captured over just two days with Acoustic, her eighth album in a 30 year career. Acoustic culminates a trio of related projects. 2018’s Mogoya Remixed saw Sangaré’s compositions retooled by high-profile fans including Sampha, Spoek Mathambo and St Germain. The album is being released by Nø Førmat digitally on June 19 with physical formats available from August 28.
Label founder Laurent Bizot speaks to the genesis of the album; “I suggested to Oumou that she record this album after a show in London to celebrate 15 years of Nø Førmat. At that concert, for the first time ever, she had agreed to try out this acoustic approach, which is all about letting go. The space it created for her voice was really wonderful.” The album was recorded in the studio in live conditions, with no amplification, no retakes or overdubs, and no headphones. Acoustic features a band comprised of backing singers Emma Lamadji and Kandy Guira, the guitarist & musical director Guimba Kouyaté, kamele ngoni virtuoso Brahima “Benogo” Diakité, and A.l.b.e.r.t’s Vincent Taurelle providing toy organ and celesta. It’s the kind of Malian backing you’ve heard from acoustic Tinariwen, Ali Farka Touré, Salif Keita and many others. Of course, what sets Sangaré apart is that she is the leading contemporary exponent of the wassoulou genre, which comes from the southwestern Malian region of the same name. Apart from its beautiful sounds, the genre is notable for being a quintessentially female one — its performers are largely women, and its lyrics address themes and subjects relevant to the lives of women in the region.
The eleven songs that Sangaré revisits here consolidate her position as Mali’s leading opinion-maker, established with her defining 1989 debut Moussolou, a cassette that sold over 250,000 copies and did much for the feminist cause in West Africa. It’s her capacity to confront suffering whilst preserving her connection to Malian values that Sangaré celebrates — a balance reflected in two additional non-Mogoya tracks added to Acoustic at Oumou’s own request. “Saa Magni,” which laments the passing of Amadou Ba Guindo (member of the Orchestre National Badema), and “Diaraby Nene” (lifted from Moussolou and recently sampled by Beyoncé on “MOOD 4 EVA”) in which Sangaré’s lyrics dared to detail her first physical encounters. The track confronted taboos head on and allowed Sangaré—hugely popular amongst West African youth—to press her advantage by denouncing—as she continues to do— female circumcision, forced marriages, and polygamy; a system that was responsible for the collapse of her own family and continues to wreck thousands of lives.
Sangaré released the first single, “Djoukourou.” Sangaré says, “People love when we play on tour. They spontaneously dance and sing with us. Djoukourou means ‘support’ or ‘protector.’ In the chorus, I say humorously: ‘If your backside is resting, then you have someone to lean on.’ There’s nothing better than having someone to lean on in life. When we stand firmly, we thrive in life, knowing there’s always someone there to support and protect us. A person, who knows they have support and protection, is afraid of nothing.”
The release of Mogoya in 2017 ended an eight year hiatus for Sangaré, during which she had been managing her numerous businesses (including agriculture, an automobile import business and running a hotel). With that album, recorded between Stockholm and Paris with co-production from A.l.b.e.r.t. (Air, Beck), the businesswoman, human rights crusader of Bamako reconnected with her audience. Treading a fine line between the traditional music of Wassoulou and a new approach, Malian instruments were augmented by electric guitar, bass and synths, with the recently deceased Tony Allen on drums. It was successful attempt at blending European production sheen with her traditional Malian sound. The use of synths, distorted electric piano and electric guitars was somewhat new to her, but she still had the comfort of Tony Allen and some of the same instruments employed here such as the kamele n’goni. The album vaulted her status as a pop culture figure beyond her revered reputation in her homeland.
The opening “Kamelemba,” underpins Sangaré’s warning to women of womanizers. Some of the other tracks are “Yere Faga,” perhaps the most danceable track dealing with suicide anyone’s ever heard. “Mali Niale” tells folks to ignore gossip and rumors while suggesting that Malians living abroad come home to work. Elsewhere, she wraps her voice around tracks celebrating those who help us, and honoring her mother, who also a musician, a migrant to Bamako from Mali’s Wassoulou region, where women had long figured prominently in traditional-music performance. As a skilled singer, Sangaré’s mother was often hired to perform at wedding and baptism celebrations in the city. Sangaré frequently accompanied her mother to these events, and it was not long before she began to sing at them herself. By the time she was in her early teens, Sangaré was already a locally recognized artist.
Arguably, Sangaré sings with as much if not more freedom and passion as she did on her debut some 30 years ago. She more than upholds the Malian traditions of rebels, undaunted in fighting for causes they believe in. And, in doing so, her voice and the entire musical presentation sounds joyous, spirited, and beautiful.
