Noura Mint Seymali - Yenbett Noura Mint Seymali

A stunning explosion of contemporary Mauritanian griot music, and once again confirms her status as one of the world's most potent voices.

Co-produced by Matthew Tinari (Noura's drummer) and Mikey Coltun (Mdou Moctar) the album's approach is both raw and experimental; capturing the band's powerful in situ performances with taught clarity and adventuresome sonics.

A voice, timeless as the desert, swirls up like the sirocco, drenched in cavernous reverberation, accompanied by the solitary, meditative swells of the ardine, an acoustic harp that dials in the fundamental frequency of Noura Mint Seymali’s music. A brief pause, and the same refrain returns, this time picked out on a heavily flanged electric guitar, grounded by thunderous drums and growling electric bass. And there’s that voice again – direct and urgent, careening off into wild ululations and refracted echo.

It's music with deep history, pointing towards the future. It's an eternal African sound, made for now.