Habib Koite & Bamada

Continuing the new label Cumbancha's run of great releases, Habib Koite returns with a new album after a six-year absence. Koite, perhaps more than any other Malian musician, cherishes a kind of wounded, beautiful melancholy at the heart of his music, as if he's always aware how transitory and ephemeral is the world he sings about. He sounds lighter on Afriki at times, though he's dealing with heavy issues such as African self-reliance. A reputed studio perfectionist, Koite took his time getting this album right -- and while the effort doesn't show, the results do.