Bamanan

Album review

Irish producer Jacknife Lee found fame and fortune working for rock behemoths like U2, Snow Patrol and Kasabian. In 2019, his album The Jacknife Lee revealed another side to him, one that’s far more electronic, adventurous, and open to African voices (it features Kenyan rapper Muthoni Drummer Queen and Ghanaian Australian Genesis Owusu). Today, Lee further explores African music, producing the first international album by singer Rokia Koné. A huge star in her native Mali, she gained recognition in Europe in the mid-2010s with the women’s collective ‘The Amazon of Africa’. Like any good West African singer, she’s the owner of a raspy voice that’s full of unbridled power; the voice of a warrior unbeaten in battle. The Mandingo tradition is omnipresent throughout her fiery vocals (which are sung in her native language of Bambara) as well as in the arrangements and structures of her songs. Jacknife Lee offers her an exoskeleton, tailor-made for all terrains, to help her take her danceable tracks around the world. The production features bouncy percussion and mesmerising vocal rhythms. Rokia Koné’s music doesn’t lose any of its authenticity due to the electronic processing either: the singer is at the very centre of her album, an unstoppable force that’s undoubtedly heading straight into the future. © Stéphane Deschamps/Qobuz