Baaba Maal, the Senegalese master-musician and cultural warrior, has an electrifying new sound and exhilarating studio album.
The Traveller, Baaba's eleventh album, is scheduled for release in January 2016, a mixture of roots African sounds and cutting-edge western electro elements.
The Traveller was recorded in London and Senegal; in making the record Baaba Maal has collaborated with Johan Hugo from The Very Best. The Very Best's two albums were genre-shattering, bright meshes of Afropop and electro; Hugo has also worked with MIA, Coldplay, and Amadou and Marian, among many others.
'I am so inspired by The Traveller,' says Baaba Maal. 'I feel we have achieved a perfect blend of sensibilities drawn not only from Africa and Europe but from all over the globe: I feel The Traveller defines how the planet looks at this time from the point-of-view of Senegal, Africa's most westerly country. And despite problems in many places, that view is extremely positive and inspiring.'
Complementing the record Baaba has a tight new six piece road-band, a departure from his previous larger line-ups, that will express the fresh sound, a soulful truth and pulsating excitement of his latest innovative music.