La Confusion

Album review

This time round, no artists involved in the casting of Amadou & Mariam’s eighth studio album are more famous than the couple in charge. No prestigious production by Damon Albarn, Manu Chao or M. There are no flashy featuring by Santigold, Tiken Jah Fakoly or TV On The Radio. With almost two decades of success under their belt, the Malian duo can very well attract attention on their own, while staying faithful to their usual style, straddling between grooves from Bamako and European clubs. To produce La Confusion they gave his chance to Adrien Durand from ethno-futuristic combo Bon Voyage Organisation, who managed to refresh their already effective recipe without removing any of the ingredients that made it successful in the first place. Amadou’s lively guitars and the couple’s notorious vocal harmonies happily slide into arrangements that, with light touches, build sensitive connections between West-African dance music, rock, electro, reggae, funk, Afro-Latino and blues. Whether in French or Bambara, Amadou & Mariam are always mindful of the most urgent issues of their environment and of our time. The title song is about the confusion that seems to dominate our society, C’est chaud talks about exile, Massa Allah implores clergymen to ease people’s minds, and Femmes du monde serves as a eulogy to female wisdom. Their joyful and festive music emerges as the perfect antidote against discouragement and autumn gloom. © BM/Qobuz