With her album Mogoya having dropped last week, acclaimed Malian singer Oumou Sangaré is making a large comeback on the international stage. This is exciting news for West-African blues lovers all over and no better way to introduce your first recorded work in 8 years than to team up with Afrobeat royalty Tony Allen for a lead single strong in rhythm, bass and message. ‘Yere Faga’ symbolises a strength and resilience when opposed by thoughts of depression and suicide, a reflection of Sangare’s own struggles to deal with the darker side of fame.
“Don’t kill yourself because of suffering. Life on this earth is not easy and people will always talk ill of you, no matter what you do. If you kill yourself over such things, you will just leave your loved ones behind in more pain. I was called all sorts of names, but did I commit suicide? Suffering and pain are part of life.”
The album was made with the aim of preserving Mali’s great musical culture whilst taking on a modern outlook as the traditional sounds of the calabash and n’goni combine with synthesizers and electric guitars. Mali’s great diva is stronger than ever and with her first UK concert since 2011 at Scala, London on 16th May there is much to look forward to…