One of Mali’s most cherished and acclaimed bands, Songhoy Blues have today announced the release of their fourth album, “Héritage“. Released on Friday 17th January 2025, the 11-track album sees them reaching into the past to bring forward something more traditional, contemplative, soulful and unquestionably the band’s most transcendent release to date. It features some of Mali’s most renowned musicians & vocalists, including Afel Bocoum, Rokia Koné, Neba Solo, Madou Diabaté and more.
Talking about ‘Issa’, the first track to be taken from the album, Songhoy Blues shares:
“ISSA” means the river in the Songhoy language, to which we pay a vibrant tribute. This is why we are appealing for the river to be kept clean, for it to be known that it plays an important role in the lives of the people in the areas of fishing, agriculture and livestock farming. It is also used by living beings who also have the right to life, so let us avoid throwing toxic waste into the river because it covers a world for which we are the spokespeople. Water is the source of life for all species, so let’s keep our rivers clean. We are so thankful for the 2 rivers that flow through our country.
Thanks to you, Issa, for making many things in life possible.
“Héritage“, sees one of Mali’s most lauded groups move into a more acoustic & creative re-imagining of the “desert blues” style that has brought them global acclaim; it represents a marked contrast to the heavier sound of their prior album, and deeper exploration of their musical roots.
Charismatic, articulate and creative, the band burst onto the scene in 2013 with a powerful style and stage manner once described as “Timbuktu Punk”. Their music deals with issues of life and love in Mali, typically through the filter of five-note scales, rock rhythms, gritty vocals, and glittering guitar. While these elements remain present in their new album “Héritage“, they share the stage with more prominent & intimate grooves, sounds, instrumentation & vocal stylings from different ethnic traditions from around the country.
The Songhoy are an ethnicity living along the bend of the Niger river in northern Mali (their language is Songhai, hence the two spellings that are often used interchangeably) and Songhoy music is one of the backbones of the “desert blues” sound. With “Héritage“, Songhoy Blues pay tribute to some of the great musicians of the past, whose work continues to inspire them, giving “a big thank you to the ancestors who bequeathed works of art so that future generations could orient themselves’.
The experience of being in Bamako, an intensely musical city, with a melting pot of music, has led Songhoy Blues to rethink their own understanding of the concept of tradition. It does not come from one single source. “The mixing up of cultures didn’t begin today” comments lead guitarist Garba Touré. Migration and forced displacement also bring new perspectives to the notion of heritage in their music.
“Héritage” was recorded in the Remote Records Studio and Studio Moffou in Bamako, with co-producer Paul Chandler, and draws on the remarkable wealth of musical talent in the city. The album presents new compositions and reworkings of old classics. It is infused with the ethereal sounds of various traditional instruments, all in the hands of great Malian masters: kora (harp), soku (one-string fiddle), kamalengoni (8 string youth harp), flute, Senufo xylophone, and calabash percussion, plus guest vocalists.
Floating in and out are traces of takamba, the wondrous dance of the Tuareg; plus wassoulou music, Mande griot music, Senufo dance and more. Unexpectedly, a steel guitar wanders in, sounding eerily like the voice of the desert. All these tone colours are brilliantly woven into a rich tapestry which is both familiar and unexpected. All their songs have some element of social critique. “We are artists, we observe our society and we comment on it, giving advice and critiquing where necessary. This is our role.” says the guitarist Touré.
The Fat Angel Sings 