Kareyce Fotso is a new addition to the catalogue of the Contre Jour label and with her songs the Cameroonian singer-songwriter seems to want to go back to the basics. Often accompanied only by her own guitar, one moment she sounds somewhat like an African Tracy Chapman ('Goun'), but other songs are rather an echo of Zap Mama ('Pac-Ler Francaise', 'Kodjieu') and Rokia Traore is never far away either. Intimate album that live will probably work better in an intimate concert hall setting than on a festival stage.
For the successor to his debut album 'Akwaba Iniséné' Aly Keïta decided to simplify things and put the literal meaning of the term "solo album" into practice. With the exception of one song ('Bamana Folie', a duet with that other balafon grandmaster, Kélétegui Diabaté) the entire album is filled with Keïta's balafon playing. West-African rhythms at their purest!