Ne' So

Rokia has come a long way since her delicious debut Mouneissa which mixed Malian instruments not usually played together.On Ne So, Rokia has realised a mature, unique and distinctive sound. It's not really Malian anymore, or rather not only Malian. It's not the kora and n'goni sound of the griots. This is folksy, singer songwriter meets rock, with an African feel. Whatever it is, it's very nice.Gentle electric and acoustic guitar leads, backed by bass and tinkling n'goni (much lower in the mix these days), with some great and varied drumming. The drummer, Moise Ouatara (from Burkina Faso) is very good - there's such a subtlety of touch and shifting rhythms that skip along adding a wonderful lightness and fluidity to the tracks.John Parish produces (he did her last album) and plays guitar here and there. The backing vocals either from Rokia herself or others are gorgeous and restrained. Rokia's lead vocal is delicate, pure and tremulous. There is great variety to the tracks, with some slow and gentle pieces, switching to uptempo danceable ones.Then for me it gets a bit of a wobble with an odd version of Strange Fruit. Rokia's delicate voice can't really hold this track and her timing is odd (it's sung in English). After that is the title track Ne So, with spoken French and then spoken English (although not credited I'm guessing it's John Paul Jones who plays mandolin?). The song has a very serious theme, it speaks about the refugee experience, but I struggle with it's worthiness.The final track is Se Dan with a clear English vocal line. Again, for me, it's a bit cringey, talking very obviously about diversity. Devendra Banhart matches Rokia's vocal and adds a very nice slide type guitar sound. Lyrically it's a bit clumsy and obvious.Overall this is a very nice album and shows Rokia as a confident and distinct female African artist. That's my clumsy and obvious way of recognising her diversity and power!

She is still the best. Had a chance to see her in Stockholm and I loved it though the sound was not the best.

I have been a big fan of Rokia Traore for many years, and this cd is just another a pearl in a long line. Love it :)

Takes a few listens to get into it but it is good when you do.

Trained by Ali Farke Toure - has to be brilliant!

What a great singer

My last encounter with Rokia Traore was with her 2013 album ‘Beautiful Africa’ andbeautiful it was. Her new release ‘Ne So’ finds her reunited with producer John Parishwhose transparent, uncluttered approach to music-making suits Ms Traore’s gorgeoustremulous voice down to the ground. This is a creative partnership made in heaven.There are eleven tracks in the collection and whether singing in her Malian home-tongue,French or English her performances are never less than captivating. Her’s is one of thosesingular and bewitching talents that you could spend a lifetime growing to know and to love.Her rendition of the forever-chilling song ‘Strange Fruit’ is alone worth the price of purchase;the intensity of her delivery gives the stark narrative about racist lynchings vivid contemporaryrelevance. There is, however, light to balance the darkness. The fluid rhythmic flow of ‘Amour;the limpid harmonies and sparkling instrumental interaction on ‘Ile’; the soft spoken poetry ofthe title track ‘Ne So’ and the fresh staccato rhythms of ‘Obike’ all bring big joy to our hearts.Whatever you do don’t let this wonderful artist fly under your radar.Essential.