After the sudden demise of accordionist and Malagasy music icon Régis Gizavo in the summer of last year, Toko Telo was suddenly reduced from a trio to a duo. As a tribute to Gizavo, the scheduled concerts still went ahead as planned, but eventually vocalist/percussionist Monika Njava and guitarist/vocalist D'Gary had to make a decission about the project's future. After careful consideration the duo decided to keep Toko Telo alive as a tribute to Régis, but of course they couldn't keep performing as "group of three" if they were only a duo, so Monika and D'Gary decided to invite jazz guitarist and Malagasy Guitar Masters member Joël Rabesolo. It almost goes without saying that the guitar was given a much larger role on this new album. Album title 'Diavola' does not refer to the spicy pizza of the same name, but is Malagasy for "the moon". In the eponymous title track, the trio talks about what people get upto at night when the moon takes the place of the sun. An indirect tribute to Régis Gizavo is 'Mpembe', penned by the late accordionist and a song about a traditional guessing game that's still quite popular in Madagascar. 'Oka Niny', which translates as "go for it girl", might as well be the anthem of the local #MeToo movement in Madagascar, and in the similar 'Zaza Somondrara' ("young girl") Monika Njava talks about young Malagasy girls who, against local traditions, are demanding more liberty and equality. However, our personal favorite on 'Diavola' is the instrumental 'Ndreto Zahay' ("we are here"), in which the two guitar heroes go all out, making the song a kind of Malagasy equivalent of 'Dueling Banjos'.