AFEL BOCOUM’S LINDÉ OUT NOW ON WORLD CIRCUIT RECORDS

NEW SINGLE “DJOUGAL” FEAT. AFROPOP PIONEER TONY ALLEN DEBUTS ALBUM

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY DAMON ALBARN AND NICK GOLD

Malian songwriter and guitarist Afel Bocoum’s new studio album Lindé is out now via World Circuit Records. Executive produced by Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) and Nick Gold (Buena Vista Social Club, Ali Farka Touré), the album is named after the wild expanse near Bocoum’s hometown of Niafunké. Lindé is a remarkable blend of deep tradition and audacious innovation, recorded in Mali’s capital of Bamako, stitching together the age-old music of the Niger bend with styles from across the globe. Lindé boasts performances from recently-departed Afrobeat pioneer Tony Allen, Joan as Police Woman and The Skatalites’ Vin Gordon, as well as a number of eminent Malian musicians including Garba Touré (Songhoy Blues), Madou Diabaté (brother of Toumani) and the late ‘Hama’ Sankaré. Lindé is available to purchase and stream HERE.

In celebration of the new record, Bocoum is premiering the new single “Djougal” featuring Tony Allen on drums. Stream/share the track HERE.

Lindé has already seen extensive critical acclaim since the debut of the record’s first single, “Avion;” NPR’s “World Café” praises the single “Penda Djiga” for its “sweeping guitar vistas” while FLOOD calls the track’s animated video “gorgeous” and okayafrica. hails the album cut “Dakamana” as “alluring.” Afropop Worldwide proclaims that “Afel Bocoum is a beautiful singer and gifted guitarist and, judging from the personnel on his new album, he knows how to gather talent, too,” and the Vancouver Sun adds that “the shot of this Malian guitar hero reclining on a motorcycle with his acoustic at the ready on the cover pretty much captures the vibe of the latest recording from Afel Bocoum.”

Traditional instruments like the ngoni, njurkele, kora and calabash blend with guitars, percussion and call-and-response vocals. The result is a gently undulating flow that emanates from a source hidden deep in the historical and mystical traditions of Bocoum’s native land, enriched along its way by musical tributaries and cross-currents. It’s music that rolls rather than rocks, graceful, unforced and minimal by design.

Lindé is also an album with a message—in the face of an uncertain and turbulent world, and a homeland struggling with jihad, poverty and violence, Afel Bocoum urges hope, solidarity and unity. “We have to meet each other, talk to each other, look each other in the eye and tell the truth,” Afel says. “If we’re not united, I can see no solution. Our social security is music. That’s all we’ve got left. People love music, so we have to make use of that fact.” Watch the story of Lindé HERE. 

Afel Bocoum is among the last of a breakthrough generation of African musicians who cross-pollinated their own traditional music with the new sounds that arrived from all over the world throughout the 20th century. Hailing from Niafunké in Mali, an area that straddles the cultural riches and political tensions between the northern and southern areas of the country, Bocoum spent decades touring and recording with desert blues pioneer Ali Farka Touré. His debut album Alkibar (1999, World Circuit) propelled him to international recognition, leading him to work with Damon Albarn & Toumani Diabaté on 2002’s Mali Music, as well as contributing regularly to the famed Africa Express projects and collaborating with Béla Fleck, Habib Koité and Tartit Ensemble, among others. “You have to collaborate, otherwise you’ll get nowhere in today’s world,” Afel says. “All those collaborations were positive.” 

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT JOE COHEN, KRISTA WILLIAMS OR CARLA SACKS AT SACKS & CO., 212.741.1000.

AFEL BOCOUM, LINDÉ
1. Penda Djiga
2. Bombolo Liilo
3. Dakamana
4. Fari Intro
5. Fari Njungu
6. Jaman Bisa
7. Avion
8. Sambu Kamba
9. Yer Gando
10. Kakilena
11. Djougal