Les Amazones d’Afrique — Musow Danse
Qobuz new release review (February 2024)
The membership of Les Amazones d’Afrique has been notoriously flexible over the supergroup’s eight-year existence. Only one original participant, Mamani Keïta, remains in the lineup, but this is a feature, not a bug. The idea behind Les Amazones was to provide both a spotlight and a megaphone for some of West Africa’s most noteworthy female musicians, and the project has featured both legends and newcomers, including Oumou Sangaré, Rokia Koné, Angélique Kidjo, Dobet Gnahoré, Fafa Ruffino, and many more. Ruffino, Gnahoré, and Keïta — along with Kandy Guira and Alvie Bitemo — comprise the roster on Musow Danse. In the same way that 2020’s stunning Amazones Power scrambled tetchy, thudding electronica and Afropop thanks to producer Doctor L, Musow Danse brings in renowned pop producer Jacknife Lee (U2, Taylor Swift) to orchestrate its synth-glossy shine. The material is still just as forceful and innovative as the group’s earlier work, but the lush keyboard of the title track opens Musow Danse on a distinct note that’s as infectious as it is insistent. That vibe dominates throughout, with the frenetic twitchiness of Amazones’ earlier work brought into sharper clarity here. Of course, the dominant force is still the singers’ top-notch vocal performances, once again routinely delivered en force, rather than as solos. While each singer is able to lean into their strengths (see: Bitemo’s soaring snarl on “Kuma Fo [What They Say]”), the visceral force generated by the group harmonies is powerful and affecting. Whether on the sparkling groove of “To Be Loved,” on dizzying, trap-flecked funk jams like “Flaws” and “My Place,” or more gentle numbers like “Espérance,” a single voice always yields to the indulgent richness of the group’s harmony-dense singing. It’s a powerful weapon that makes the magnificent and modernistic production work seem almost secondary. And while the Amazones could certainly make an impactful album based solely around their vocal talents, it’s the unique combination of their voices and music that’s both mildly experimental and pop maximalist that makes Musow another compelling addition to their discography.
