SANGARE, OUMOU - Acoustic

Unplugged sessions have fallen from favour since their 1990s heyday, but here Mali’s leading diva reminds us that sometimes they can eclipse plugged-in originals. The template is Oumou Sangaré’s 2017 album Mogoya, which has already reappeared as a dance-oriented remix. Acoustic is a different beast entirely. Recorded live in a French studio over two days last August, without amplifiers, overdubs or retakes, it lends its songs a new intimacy and intensity. A guitar and ngoni provide the intricate string-driven backdrops while two female singers provide heft, setting up call and responses with Sangaré, who is in magnificent, free-flowing form. Whatever the subject – the wiles of womanisers, the conduct of social life, the rights of women – Sangaré is always serious. She reprises Diaraby Nene, her taboo-busting breakout from 1990, which references sex, FGM and polygamy. Here, too, are tributes to her mother (a celebrated singer) and to her musical mentor, Amadou Ba Guindo. The moods are by turn bluesy (Minata Daraba) and dreamy (Saa Magni), enlivened by touches of celeste. The set rolls out seamlessly, a hypnotic gig. Fans had to wait eight years for Mogoya, while Sangaré expanded her business empire; but this unplugged sequel is better still